Police shoot and critically wound woman on Topsham Bypass

The scene on the Topsham side of the Route 196 bridge on Monday afternoon. C. Thacher Carter / The Times Record

A Topsham police officer shot and critically wounded a woman Monday afternoon on the Topsham Bypass during a confrontation that started after someone notified authorities that the woman was making “homicidal and suicidal statements and was possibly armed with a gun.”

Topsham Police Chief Marc R. Hagan said in a news release issued late Monday night that an armed confrontation occurred after officers from the Topsham Police Department and Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office arrived to check on the woman’s well being. Her vehicle was stopped by the side of the road.

“An armed confrontation occurred that resulted in the woman being shot and critically injured by a Topsham police officer,” Hagan said.

An ambulance initially transported the woman to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick before she was transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Her name and condition were not available Monday night. No officers were injured, and the name of the officer who shot the woman has not been released. Hagan said the name of the woman and officer will be released once family members have been notified.

The officer who fired his weapon has been placed on paid administrative leave. The Maine Attorney General’s Office was notified and is investigating, which is standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting. The incident took place around 2:34 p.m.

The four-lane Topsham Bypass – Route 196 – crosses the Androscoggin River connecting Topsham and Brunswick.

Maine State Police and Brunswick police closed Route 196 on the Brunswick side of the bridge to traffic following the shooting and advised drivers to take an alternative route. Traffic was backed up for at least a mile as a result of the closure.

Route 196 reopened to traffic around 7:30 p.m.