Police and others are seen on Wednesday in the aftermath of a shooting that killed three people, including the shooter, on Route 9 in Sabattus. John Childs said he witnessed the scene while driving past the shooter. John Childs photo

A Wales man narrowly escaped gunfire Wednesday afternoon after crossing paths with an armed man moments after a fatal shooting in Sabattus.

“I could smell gunpowder, and the gunfire was so loud I thought he was shooting right next to me,” John Childs said.

Childs, 44, who was on his way to pick up his son from track practice, described the terrifying moments as he and his fiancée, Heather Bonsey, 32, found themselves staring down the barrel of James Davis III’s rifle.

Moments before, Davis, 29, of Sabattus, was driving with his mother, Christine Smith, 47, when he shot her with a .357 revolver as Smith’s Subaru was coming to a stop on King Road at Route 9, according to state police. When the vehicle stopped on the front lawn of a home across from the intersection, Davis exited the vehicle and opened fire on passing vehicles with an AK-47.

Davis then fatally shot Katherine Williams, 53, of Sabattus, who was driving home after work from Litchfield Elementary School, police said.

Childs said that as he approached King Road, he noticed a blue Subaru SUV crossing the street about eight car lengths ahead of them. The car continued at 10 to 15 mph, failing to stop at the intersection. It hit the curb, bounced up and over, before stopping on the lawn.

At first, Childs said, he thought there might be a medical emergency as he drove toward the vehicle and saw the driver’s head slumped against the door. There was movement on the other side of the car, but it wasn’t clear what was happening, he said.

First, Childs wondered if another person had been run over. But then he saw Davis appear from the passenger side with the AK-47, blood spattered on his face.

“It made everything even more confusing,” Childs said. “I don’t know if having a hundred million things run through your head at once would make sense, or if having an awkward kind of numb silence would be the appropriate way to put it.”

Emergency vehicles block off the road near Route 9 while police investigate a fatal shooting Wednesday in Sabattus. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

The unsettling sight left Childs in a state of mental overload, he said, as the two locked eyes and Davis raised his rifle. Davis did not say anything, and his eyes had a vacant look like “there wasn’t anyone home. That’s how I knew there was no stopping.”

“The lady looked unresponsive behind the wheel, and him coming out from around the car with blood spatters on his face gave me that eerie feeling — that if I give him even the slightest bit of a chance to take us out, he’s going to happily accept,” he said.

With that realization, Childs yelled to Heather to get down. Then, he hit the gas, keeping his head low.

As Childs sped past Davis, the shooter opened fire. Childs tried swerving back and forth, figuring that “dodging and weaving” gave him a better chance than driving in a straight line.

Holding his breath as he heard a count of four pops, Childs said, many of his senses went off all at once.

“I was … waiting for the rear window to blow out,” he said. “Then (I realized) beside me was the lady in the SUV — the one who didn’t survive.”

Col. William Ross of the Maine State Police updates the media Thursday at the state police barracks in Gray on the investigation into the Sabattus shooting. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Once past the shooter, Childs attempted to stop oncoming traffic and warn others. He threw his hands out of the window as he came to a stop, waving and yelling, “No! Stop! Active shooter ahead.” However, a line of at least four or five cars went by, he said, some people looking at him like he was crazy.

Meanwhile, his fiancée began reacting from the shock.

“I pulled over; my fiancée started to hyperventilate,” he said, adding that he paused for a few minutes to help calm her down. “I told Heather, ‘We need to go back. If I can help anyone else, I need to. I can’t just leave here not knowing I did all I could.’ She begged me not to, but I decided to go back with caution.”

Childs returned to the scene about 10 minutes later and saw the shooter lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to the face and head. The Subaru was still running, he said.

“The AK was next to him, as was a pistol. … I looked up the road and saw an SUV impaled into a house,” Childs said.

As the grim reality set in, Childs made his way to the driver of the Subaru and saw that the driver, Smith, was dead from gunshot wounds.

“That’s when I fell to my knees in the reality of what had just occurred,” he said.

Since the shooting, Childs said his fiancée does not want to leave the house and is still processing what she saw.

Childs said he is also working through the experience, especially since police told him he did everything he could while driving and when he tried responding to the victims.

“I’ve had a few people ask what made me go back,” he said. “I guess it’s because I’ve been in a few places in my life where my presence was needed and I was able to help save a life or two.”