Matthew A. Plummer
A local man with a reputation for violence is facing charges including aggravated attempted murder following a shooting at an apartment complex on Reed Road in Boothbay Harbor Sunday, March 19.
Matthew A. Plummer, 40, of Boothbay Harbor, was arrested by the Maine State Police Tactical Team and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies around 3 a.m. Monday after a standoff that began after 4:30 Sunday afternoon, according to a press release from the LCSO.
According to LCSO, the incident began around 4:35 p.m. when witnesses in the area of the Campbell Creek Village reported hearing gunshots and seeing a man with a gun in the parking lot of the complex.
Witnesses told responding officers the man, subsequently identified as Plummer, had gone back into an apartment at Campbell Creek following the shooting, according to the LCSO. Deputies, joined by officers from the Boothbay Harbor Police Department, the Maine Warden Service, and the U.S. Border Patrol, secured the scene, which was later turned over the Maine State Police Tactical Team.
Once Plummer was taken into custody, he was transported to the LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus in Damariscotta for medical treatment before being taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.
At an appearance at the Lincoln County Courthouse Monday, March 20, Plummer was charged with four felonies including aggravated attempted murder, a Class A felony; creating a police standoff, a Class B crime; and violating conditions of release, and illegal possession of a firearm, both Class C charges.
Some of the charges relate to his sentence from a standoff in Wiscasset in December 2018. In that event, Plummer refused to leave his apartment for more than eight hours until the Maine State Police tactical team used a chemical agent to force him out.
According to the press release, the shooting victim, identified in LCSO and court documents as Thomas Hourihan, 34, Wiscasset, arrived at a local urgent care center seeking treatment for gunshot wounds before deputies arrived at the scene on Reed Road.
According to an affidavit filed by LCSO Det. Ryan Chubbuck, after he was informed of events, he responded to LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus in Damariscotta to meet with the shooting victim. At the hospital, Chubbuck said Damariscotta Police Officer William Smith informed him Hourihan identified Plummer as his assailant.
“Matthew is well known to law enforcement from previous violent physical encounters during prior contact with police,” Chubbuck said in the affidavit.
At some point after speaking with Smith, Hourihan was sedated in preparation for his LifeFlight transport to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Chubbuck reports he learned from Smith that Hourihan was shot “approximately six times: three or four in the back, once in the chest, and once maybe in the head behind the ear.”
According to the affidavit, at the hospital in Damariscotta, Chubbuck spoke with Hourihan’s mother and the mother’s boyfriend, who informed Chubbuck Hourihan has a child with a woman “Matthew has been harassing … for the last couple months.”
In the affidavit, Chubbuck said he spoke with the woman who alleged Plummer has been harassing her for months and has threatened to kill her. The woman provided Chubbuck with a dated list of events allegedly involving Plummer. Chubbuck notes four separate events in his affidavit.
According to the affidavit, all of the alleged events occurred between Feb. 13 and March 11, all involved noise, “banging,” foul language, and some level of disorderly conduct, and all four involved responses from law enforcement.
According to Chubbuck’s affidavit, the woman said she, her children, and Hourihan were leaving their apartment to go buy furniture just before the shooting. They were taking separate cars, which were parked in close proximity. The woman told Chubbuck she saw Plummer coming out of his apartment with his hand behind his back.
“Almost immediately, (the woman) saw Matthew fire approximately 10 rounds from a handgun at Thomas. Thomas was able to dive into her car and (the woman) fled with everyone in the car,” Chubbuck said in the affidavit. “Due to Matthew shooting multiple times in the direction of Thomas, (the woman), and her children, there is probable cause to believe Matthew committed the crimes of aggravated attempted murder … and violation of conditions of release.”
Elsewhere Chubbuck said Plummer is currently under four sets of active bail conditions, which specify not engaging in criminal conduct and not possessing dangerous weapons, among other restrictions.
Based on the probable cause outlined in Chubbuck’s affidavit, the court issued a search warrant on March 19 while the standoff was still ongoing. The warrant authorizes “any officer authorized by law” to search Plummer’s residence and any vehicle he was determined to own or have operated. The warrant authorizes law enforcement to take interior and exterior photos, search for biological and physical evidence, firearms, and ammunition.
Plummer’s cash bail was set at $100,000. No third party bail is allowed. In the event Plummer is bailed out, he is required to submit to the custody of a supervised bail contract, stay away from Hourihan and the woman, and submit to searches of his person, residence, and vehicle.
He has been ordered to undergo counseling, take his medication as prescribed, and participate in an electronic monitoring program. He is due to appear in court again May 8.
