State Trooper fatally shoots man in Old Orchard Beach parking lot

Police shot and killed a Limerick man in an Old Orchard Beach grocery store parking lot Tuesday night after he allegedly threatened to harm others and chambered a round.

Emergency dispatchers received a call around 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday from a woman reporting that Christopher Harriman, 38, of Limerick was armed and had been making suicidal threats for about an hour, according to a press release from Shannon Moss, public information officer with the Maine Department of Public Safety. The woman said Harriman was in a black Escalade at the Kennebunk rest area on the Maine Turnpike and was armed with an AR style rifle. She said he also named specific people he was threatening to harm.

Harriman left before Maine State Troopers arrived at the rest area, said Moss. The woman who had called 911 gave police information on his possible location, and police officers from Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Maine State Police were called to assist Maine State Troopers.

Harriman led police on a slow speed pursuit and pointed the firearm out the window towards police officers, said Moss.

He was stopped at the Landry’s Shop ’n  Save grocery store parking lot at 2 Cascade Road,  Old Orchard Beach, said Moss.

Police tried to negotiate with Harriman and convince him to surrender as he stood outside his car, said Moss. Harriman reached in his car, grabbed his rifle, and chambered a round. He was then shot and killed by Trooper Ryan Phillips, said Moss.

 Phillips has been placed on administrative leave, as is standard protocol when law enforcement officers are involved in the use of deadly force while the Office of the Attorney General investigates, said Moss. 

Saco Bay News Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.