LEWISTON — The victim of a Wednesday night homicide on River Street has been identified as 37-year-old Nicholas Blake of Lewiston.

Another Lewiston man, 47-year-old Barry Zollarcoffer, has been arrested and charged with murder. That arrest was made after police executed a search at 12 River St. where he was found at about 4 p.m. Friday. Police had also searched a home in Rumford.

Zollarcoffer was questioned at the Lewiston police station late Friday afternoon and was being taken to the county jail. Police said he will be held without bail until his initial appearance in the Androscoggin County Superior Court next week, police said.

Zollarcoffer has a criminal history in the area, including a conviction for criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon in 2017. He is currently under the supervision of the department of corrections for that conviction.

An acquaintance says he’s been living with his daughter at 12 River St., a short distance from where the shooting occurred. Zollarcoffer had been spotted in that area Thursday night.

Police had surrounded the home at the end of River Street on Wednesday night shortly after shots were reportedly fired in the area. Police found Blake dead inside the home at 70 River St, according to Maine State Police. Witnesses said he had been shot.

Shortly after 7 p.m., residents near the intersection of River and Oxford streets reported hearing the gunfire, according to witnesses at the scene. A short time later, police swarmed the area and quickly began evacuating two floors at 171 Oxford St., near the end of River Street.

At least one witness reported seeing the driver of a car fleeing the area after shots were fired.

Police did not say what they believe motivated the killing. The relationship between Zollarcoffer and Blake was not immediately clear. The two are friends on Facebook and both lived in the area where the shooting occurred.

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