By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

BRUNSWICK – Police shot and killed a man Thursday night after a car chase along Route 1 ended in a Cumberland Farms parking lot at Cook’s Corner.

The man was killed after exchanging gunfire with a Brunswick police officer and a deputy from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department, a witness said.

The victim’s identity had not been confirmed by late Thursday night.

Police from several departments had been chasing a Subaru driven by the man south on Route 1 after he was reported as a suspect in a pharmacy robbery in Waldoboro, 36 miles northeast of Brunswick, police said.

After police in Bath laid down a spike mat on Route 1, most if not all of the tires on the Subaru were deflated. Shortly after, the driver exited the highway and drove into the Cumberland Farms parking lot, where the shots were fired, police said.

At about 7 p.m., 53-year-old Paul Burrows of Brunswick was pumping gas into his Ford Mustang when he got caught up in the mayhem.

“All of these lights and sirens were coming along. Then this car came around the corner with the tires blown out,” Burrows said. “A man jumped out of the car with a handgun. I ran and the next thing I know, the window of my car was shot out.”

Burrows said the man was firing toward Gurnet Road as the police arrived. The officers got out of their cars and started shooting back, he said.

“I got behind a car and ducked down,” Burrows said. “I didn’t get up until the shooting stopped.”

The victim fell to the ground next to the gas pumps outside the store. Police approached the downed man and put cuffs on his wrists as more officers and rescue crews arrived. Burrows said it was clear that the man was dead.

It was believed the victim of the shooting was a suspect in an armed robbery at Waltz Pharmacy in Waldoboro at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday. In that heist, police said a man went into the drugstore with a gun and demanded drugs. He was initially said to have fled in a PT Cruiser, and it was believed he later obtained another car.

State and county police departments had been searching for the robbery suspect along Route 1 when they spotted the Subaru. It was not clear at what point the chase began, though it was believed shots were fired as the chase progressed through Bath.

Cook’s Corner on Thursday night was aglow with police lights and yellow crime scene tape hours after the shooting. The victim remained on the ground next to the gas pumps and a large area in front of Cumberland Farms and Papa John’s Pizza was cordoned off.

Police secured the area while waiting for a medical examiner and a representative from the Attorney General’s Office to arrive. Shootings involving police are investigated as a matter of routine by the Attorney General’s Office.

Burrows’ car and at least one other remained in the Cumberland Farms lot as the investigation was getting under way. Burrows said he had lived through a career in the Navy without ever being involved in gunfire.

“He called me on the phone and told me he wasn’t hurt,” said 22-year-old Andrea Burrows, Paul’s daughter. “I thought he was probably in an accident. Then he told me he was almost shot.”

Police did not expect the identity of the victim to be available until Friday morning.