One of the Topsham police officers who was involved in a shooting on the Merrymeeting Bridge early Tuesday morning is the same officer who fatally shot a woman on that bridge nearly three years earlier.Officer Mathew Bowers, who has worked for the Topsham Police Department since August 2017, was one of two officers who responded to the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. after the Sagadahoc Regional Communications Center received a call from a man who thanked police for their service and told the on-duty dispatcher that they would be finding him soon.Bowers and Officer Frasier Vachon tried to communicate with that man, 33-year-old Joseph Mendez, who authorities said was brandishing a machete, and directed him to drop the weapon. Police said Mendez did not respond to the officers' commands and instead advanced toward them with the machete, at which point he was shot.Authorities said Mendez continued to resist and not follow commands after he was shot, so the officers tased him.After he was taken into custody, Mendez was transported to Mid-Coast Hospital in Brunswick and later transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland for further treatment.The Merrymeeting Bridge, which carries Route 196 over the Androscoggin River between Topsham and Brunswick, was shut down for hours during the morning commute while police investigated.Topsham police Chief Marc Hagan said Bowers and Vachon were placed on administrative leave while the Maine Attorney General's Office investigates the use of deadly force, as is standard protocol.On Feb. 28, 2022, Bowers fired one round at 37-year-old Kourtney Sherwood, of Brunswick, during an armed encounter on the Merrymeeting Bridge. Sherwood was critically injured and transported to Maine Medical Center, where she died the following day."I get to work, and then I hear that there was another officer-involved shooting and then find out it was the same officer, again," said Sherwood's wife, Stacy Beverage.Video of the February 2022 encounter that was captured by a dashboard camera shows Sherwood pointing a pistol out of the driver's side window of her truck, which was stopped along the side of Route 196. The sound of a single gunshot can then be heard on the video.The Maine Attorney General's Office ruled Bowers' use of deadly force in the encounter with Sherwood was justified.Beverage said her wife was in the middle of a mental health crisis when she was fatally shot. She wishes things turned out differently and said she was sad to hear of another situation on the same bridge involving one of the same police officers.In addition, Beverage said she wonders if police departments are offering expanded training on how to approach these situations."It would really be nice to get some actual mental health counseling for the police departments, and have at least a couple of people that could go to these scenes to actually try to help," Beverage said. "I'm not saying the police are not trying to help, but they can't be experts in everything."Hagan has directed all further questions about Tuesday's shooting to the Maine Attorney General's Office.It is unclear whether the Topsham Police Department has increased training in this area. Some larger police departments in Maine do have trained mental health facilitators who respond to these types of calls.
One of the Topsham police officers who was involved in a shooting on the Merrymeeting Bridge early Tuesday morning is the same officer who fatally shot a woman on that bridge nearly three years earlier.
Officer Mathew Bowers, who has worked for the Topsham Police Department since August 2017, was one of two officers who responded to the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. after the Sagadahoc Regional Communications Center received a call from a man who thanked police for their service and told the on-duty dispatcher that they would be finding him soon.
Bowers and Officer Frasier Vachon tried to communicate with that man, 33-year-old Joseph Mendez, who authorities said was brandishing a machete, and directed him to drop the weapon. Police said Mendez did not respond to the officers' commands and instead advanced toward them with the machete, at which point he was shot.
Authorities said Mendez continued to resist and not follow commands after he was shot, so the officers tased him.
After he was taken into custody, Mendez was transported to Mid-Coast Hospital in Brunswick and later transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland for further treatment.
The Merrymeeting Bridge, which carries Route 196 over the Androscoggin River between Topsham and Brunswick, was shut down for hours during the morning commute while police investigated.
Topsham police Chief Marc Hagan said Bowers and Vachon were placed on administrative leave while the Maine Attorney General's Office investigates the use of deadly force, as is standard protocol.
On Feb. 28, 2022, Bowers fired one round at 37-year-old Kourtney Sherwood, of Brunswick, during an armed encounter on the Merrymeeting Bridge. Sherwood was critically injured and transported to Maine Medical Center, where she died the following day.
"I get to work, and then I hear that there was another officer-involved shooting and then find out it was the same officer, again," said Sherwood's wife, Stacy Beverage.
Video of the February 2022 encounter that was captured by a dashboard camera shows Sherwood pointing a pistol out of the driver's side window of her truck, which was stopped along the side of Route 196. The sound of a single gunshot can then be heard on the video.
The Maine Attorney General's Office ruled Bowers' use of deadly force in the encounter with Sherwood was justified.
Beverage said her wife was in the middle of a mental health crisis when she was fatally shot. She wishes things turned out differently and said she was sad to hear of another situation on the same bridge involving one of the same police officers.
In addition, Beverage said she wonders if police departments are offering expanded training on how to approach these situations.
"It would really be nice to get some actual mental health counseling for the police departments, and have at least a couple of people that could go to these scenes to actually try to help," Beverage said. "I'm not saying the police are not trying to help, but they can't be experts in everything."
Hagan has directed all further questions about Tuesday's shooting to the Maine Attorney General's Office.
It is unclear whether the Topsham Police Department has increased training in this area. Some larger police departments in Maine do have trained mental health facilitators who respond to these types of calls.