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A Maine man shot and killed his parents and two of their friends on Tuesday morning, just days after his mother picked him up from prison, police officials said.
Joseph Eaton, 34, allegedly opened fire later that day on an interstate, wounding three people. He was then taken into custody without incident and confessed to the shootings, according to police.
His mother, 62-year-old Cynthia Eaton, had picked him up from Maine Correctional Center in Windham on Friday after he served a sentence for aggravated assault.
Police did not release information about Eaton's whereabouts between Friday and Tuesday morning, when a relative discovered the bodies of his parents and their two friends shot to death at a home in Bowdoin, about 30 miles northeast of Portland.
Cynthia Eaton, her husband David Eaton, 66, and two of their friends, 72-year-old Robert Eger and 62-year-old Patricia Eger, were pronounced deceased on the property. Three of the victims were inside the home, while one victim was found outside near a barn.
In addition to the eight-month sentence for aggravated assault, Eaton had also been convicted of domestic violence assault and operating under the influence of intoxicants in Maine, as well as illegally possessing a gun in Florida, according to the Bangor Daily News.
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Eaton posted on Facebook on Friday morning that "it's finally over," writing that there are "so many people" he can't wait to see. His posts took a darker turn days later.
"Life as a whole is suffering. You work for the duration, you get sick, people you love die, and your guaranteed to have 'bad days,'" Eaton wrote on Sunday evening. "Life is a trial for what is to come."
A police officer stands on the corner of Portland Street and Main Street in Yarmouth, Maine, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. (Michael Leonard via AP)
He posted a video on Monday afternoon that he appeared to try to tag his mother in, writing "thanks for never giving up on me."
"A lot of people look at you and think, 'Oh, well, there's just another, you know, f---up,'" Eaton said in the video as he cries. "And then they turn around and claim to be Christian. You can't forgive somebody or understand what they go through. You can't give someone a second chance."
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After the shooting in Bowdoin, Eaton opened fire on an interstate about 25 miles south in Yarmouth because he thought he was being followed by police, officials said. Three people – Sean Halsey, 51, Justin Halsey, 29, and Paige Halsey, 25 – were wounded in that shooting. Paige was still in critical condition on Wednesday.
"When you have a series of events like occurred yesterday, I look at that as an attack on the soul of our state. And it's a shock to everybody. It's a shock to people that have been in this system for a number of decades, myself included," Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said at a press conference on Wednesday.
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