TURNER — A man who reportedly had overdosed was taken to a hospital Tuesday from a campground on Route 117 after first scaring off emergency responders who felt threatened by the man’s gun.

Androscoggin County Chief Deputy William Gagne said local rescue workers responded to a call shortly before 10 a.m.

Martin Stream Campground owner Zach Vanier said the girlfriend of the man, who was a weekend camper, was worried about her boyfriend’s welfare because he had possibly overdosed after drinking some kind of liquid.

When EMS responders arrived at the camper, they saw a man in the doorway in possession of a long-barreled gun (that was later identified as a pellet gun.) He refused medical treatment, Gagne said.

“It was a very realistic looking rifle with a scope on it,” Gagne said.

The responders felt threatened, backed off and called dispatchers who sent law enforcement to the scene.

Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputies arrived along with Maine State Police.

With the help of the campground owners, who had maps of all the campsites, authorities established a perimeter and evacuated the campers near the camper where the gun was spotted.

Gagne said authorities had assumed the man had remained in his camper.

“Nobody saw him come out,” he said.

Then several of the summer residents of the campground spotted the man in the woods near a different part of the campground and directed law enforcement officials in his direction, Vanier said.

He was having a medical crisis, Gagne said.

The man was taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston for treatment, Gagne said. The man’s rifle was recovered.

Law enforcement authorities were consulting Tuesday afternoon with the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office about possible criminal charges or civil violations, Gagne said.

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