AUBURN — A Mechanic Falls man will serve a total of 26 years in prison for the attempted murder of a police officer during a disturbance in Minot nearly a year ago. 

Corey Hamel of Mechanic Falls pleaded guilty on Tuesday of charges stemming from a shooting rampage in Minot in February of 2024. screenshot from video

Corey Hamel, 43, pleaded guilty to the charges Tuesday morning in Androscoggin County Superior Court. He was sentenced immediately after entering the plea.

On the charge of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, Hamel was sentenced to 23 years behind bars, to be served consecutively with an additional three years for violating probation. 

He had originally denied the charges against him, but changed his plea during a teleconferencing meeting Tuesday morning. 

Given the opportunity to speak at the hearing, Hamel did not address the judge nor the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputy who was shot in the leg during Hamel’s shooting rampage. 

In the early morning Feb. 14, 2024, deputies from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance complaint at a home at 1089 Woodman Hill Road in Minot. 

Shortly after police arrived, Hamel began spraying several vehicles with gunfire from the end of the driveway, according to police reports. 

One of the officers, Sgt. Randy Williams, was shot in the upper right leg by gunfire during the exchange. He was taken to a Lewiston hospital where he underwent surgery for his wounds. 

One witness said he heard Hamel yell: “Happy Valentine’s Day, motherf—rs” before walking into the driveway and opening fire on police. 

Following the hearing Tuesday, Androscoggin County police officials had mixed feelings about the sentence. 

The shooting didn’t only impact Williams and his family, said Sheriff Eric Samson, it affected the entire department and to some extent, law enforcement across the region. 

Hamel’s guilty plea means Williams and others will be spared a lengthy trial. 

“All in all, this allows Sgt. Williams to move on,” Samson said. “And I’m glad that the court stood up for law enforcement. I guess 23 years is a significant amount of time, but I would have expected him to apologize to Randy and his family when he had the chance. Maybe that’s expecting too much.” 

Based on the charges against him following the shooting, Hamel could have spent the rest of his life behind bars, Samson noted. He stopped short of calling the sentence of 23 years fair, but said ultimately he was satisfied with it. 

By the time Hamel opened fire on police last year, he was already no stranger to the court system.  

In August 2017, he was charged with seven crimes, including attempted arson, after he took steps to burn down his Pottle Hill Road home. 

He eventually pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor domestic violence assault charges and was sentenced to a total of 18 months in jail, according to court documents. 

According to police reports, at the time of his rampage on Woodman Hill Road, Hamel, a carpenter, was staying in the home of his boss, James Harlow.

Police said Hamel had argued with his wife, Tiffany Morin, earlier in the night and then she had gone to the bedroom of Harlow’s wife, Trudy.

Trudy Harlow told police later that Morin had barged into her bedroom around 3:30 a.m., saying Hamel pointed a gun at her head and was going to shoot her. 

Morin told police Hamel tried to get into the bedroom, then she saw smoke in the kitchen, police said. 

Morin and the Harlows left the home through a back door. 

James Harlow told police he wasn’t sure whether the popping sound he heard was gunshots, but was worried Hamel had shot at or might shoot at the women. 

Outside, Harlow was moving some vehicles when he saw a male and female deputy trying to move people away from the fire. 

Williams was the only person seriously hurt before Hamel was taken into custody. The deputy has been with Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department for over 20 years. He has not yet returned to duty.