A Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office cruiser blocks a road in Harrison during investigation of a doorbell prank gone wrong Saturday morning. A teen was shot in the right calf by a resident at 91 Waterford Road, but is in stable condition at Bridgton Hospital. Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office photo

HARRISON — A teenage prankster who knocked on a door and ran away in a game of “ding dong ditch” early Saturday morning was shot in the calf, allegedly by the resident at the Waterford Road home.

At approximately 1:04 a.m., deputies from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and officers from the Bridgton Police Department responded to Waterford Road and Depot Street in Harrison and found blood in the road after receiving numerous reports of people hearing “several gunshots and screaming in the area,” according to a news release from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

“Almost simultaneously the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center received a call from Bridgton Hospital reporting a walk-in gunshot victim,” the release says. The teen sustained a gunshot wound to the right calf causing “serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.”

The victim, whose identity has not been released, is being treated at the hospital and is in “stable condition.”

Vincent M. Martin, 30, Waterford Road, Harrison, was arrested at his home hours after the alleged shooting at 7:38 a.m. Saturday morning. He is charged with class A felony elevated aggravated assault, class B felony aggravated reckless conduct, and two misdemeanors — discharging a firearm near a dwelling and discharging a firearm over a way.

Martin is currently being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $10,000 bail.

Vincent M. Martin, 30, Harrison

An investigation revealed that a group of teens were playing “ding dong ditch” and knocked on the door of 91 Waterford Road before running away. The resident at that address, Martin, “produced a handgun and shot at the teens numerous times, striking one victim in the right calf,” the news release states.

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Todd Meslin declined Monday to provide more information about the incident other than what was included in the news release.

The Oxford Police Department posted a warning on Facebook about an increase in these types of “ding dong ditch” incidents, encouraging parents to talk to their children to “make sure this is not happening.”

Oxford Police Chief Rickie Jack said the department had a report of kids kicking the doors of two houses in the middle of the night last week. He explained that being close to Pismo Beach, there are a lot of kids “roaming” in the summer, possibly causing trouble.

He said the kids were identified and the cost of the damage to the doors was rectified.

Jack said he has never heard of a similar situation to the one in Harrison where a resident actually fired on pranksters.

“I’ve heard of jokes being played like this before, but to actually open fire on individuals, it’s going too far,” Jack said. “Thank God no one was killed.”

The Norway Police Department has seen “some issues with juveniles involving curfew, thefts, and criminal mischief” but have not received any “ding dong ditch” complaints specifically, Norway Police Chief and Interim Town Manager Jeffrey Campbell said by email Monday.

Maine does not have a “stand your ground” law like 28 other states in the U.S., but state law does say that nondeadly and deadly force can be used to defend one’s home from trespass and arson in certain circumstances, in a kind of “Castle Doctrine.”

The section of Maine law titled “use of force in defense of premises,” states that nondeadly force may be used “when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes it necessary to prevent or terminate the commission of a criminal trespass by such other person in or upon such premises.”

Therefore, if someone is trespassing and the resident believes force is necessary in order to stop them from trespassing, it would be justified under Maine law. Of course, this would likely have to be argued in a court of law and a judge or jury would have to agree in order for the force to be officially justified.

Deadly force may only be used to stop someone from committing arson or if the resident “reasonably believes that deadly force is necessary to prevent or terminate the commission of a criminal trespass by such other person.” Before deadly force is potentially justified, Maine law requires the resident to demand that the intruder leave and for the intruder not to comply, “unless the person reasonably believes that it would be dangerous to the person or a 3rd person to make the demand.”

A “stand your ground” defense applies to any public place and would argue that “an individual who is not engaged in any illegal activity can legally use deadly force in self-defense in public even if a safe retreat is possible or nonlethal force would be enough,” according to the Maine Criminal Defense Group. However, Maine does not have such a law.

Waterford Road and Depot Street were closed to traffic for several hours on Saturday morning. The incident remains under investigation, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office release.