Suspect Joseph Eaton Arrested After Maine Shooting Leaves Four Dead

• Joseph Eaton, 34, has been charged with murder following two shootings in Maine on Tuesday.
• Four people were found shot dead in the house and three others were wounded in a shooting on a busy highway.
• Police said Eaton was the sole suspect in both shootings, but they did not yet put forth a motive.

A man has been charged with murder after four people were fatally shot at a house in Maine on Tuesday shortly before three others were wounded by gunfire on a busy highway.

Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin, was booked into Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset on Tuesday night, The Portland Press Herald reported, citing Maine State Police. He is expected to make an initial appearance in court later this week.

Police said Eaton is the lone suspect in both shootings, the newspaper reported. Police have not discussed a possible motive.

Newsweek has contacted the Maine State Police via email for further comment.

The Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office was alerted to a shooting inside the home in rural Bowdoin at around 9:20 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the newspaper. A relative of the victims discovered the bodies and notified another relative, who alerted authorities.

Police have not identified the victims and the state medical examiner is to determine the manner and cause of death following autopsies.

Not long after the bodies were discovered, several cars were shot at on Interstate 295 near Exit 15 in Yarmouth. One of the three victims shot was in critical condition, police said.

Police on Tuesday shut down part of the highway and told people in the area to shelter in place for about 90 minutes until it was determined the public were not in danger.

Lenora Felker, who works near the highway at Rosemont Market and Bakery, told the Associated Press that officers had gone business to business asking if they had seen "anyone that was wet and muddy fleeing."

She said she knew all the customers and didn't see anything unusual.

In a thread on Twitter, Maine Gov. Janet Mills expressed her shock at the shootings.

"Like people across Maine, I am shocked and deeply saddened—acts of violence like we experienced today shake our state and our communities to the core," she wrote.

"My thoughts are with the families, friends and loved ones of those impacted by this tragedy, and I am praying for the quick recovery of those who are hospitalized."

She added: "There is still much to learn, but I am grateful to the quick response of State, county, and local law enforcement to protect Maine people."

The shootings are the latest in a series of mass killings that have rocked communities across the United States in 2023.

They come after six were slain at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, in March; five were killed at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier in April; and four were killed at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, over the weekend.