GARDINER (AP) – As a state investigation continued, nearly 200 people gathered at a funeral home to mourn Gregori Jackson, an 18-year-old Whitefield man who was shot last Sunday by a Waldoboro police officer after a traffic stop.

“It’s sad. It breaks our hearts,” Gabe Roy, a family friend from Sidney, said Saturday. “They were a real family, they cared about each other. … Greg was a really good kid. He was going through the same stuff any other teen might go through.”

The Rev. Elizabeth Bachelder Smith shared memories of his life developed from talks with family members.

“A great kid, a good friend, a nice person,” Smith said.

Jackson’s father spoke briefly, thanking those in attendance and expressing hope that none would suffer a similar loss.

“Everybody has been great to us and we really appreciate it,” Millard Jackson said.

Last week, a lawyer for Waldoboro police officer Zachary Curtis said Curtis was being choked and feared for his life when he shot and killed Jackson.

The shooting is under investigation by the Maine attorney general’s office, which reviews police uses of deadly force.

A lawyer for the Jackson family has said Jackson’s parents believe he was unarmed and that inexperience on the officer’s part may have contributed to the shooting.

Curtis has been placed on administrative leave.

Jackson was a passenger in a car that was pulled over around 2:15 a.m. last Sunday by Curtis, a reserve officer, on Route 220 between Waldoboro and Friendship.

Jackson had been arrested in July for drunken driving, and again in August for violating conditions of his release.

according to the Maine Sunday Telegram.

A spokesman for the attorney general’s office, David Loughran, has declined to discuss details of the investigation.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-09-30-07 1020EDT

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