WALES — A man was shot and killed early Monday in a confrontation with a state trooper in the Androscoggin County town of Wales, according to Maine State Police.

William N. Derick, 54, was fatally shot at his mobile home at 485 Pond Road, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said in a statement. The shooting occurred after police were called to the home off Route 132 Sunday night for a report of a domestic violence incident in which a gunshot was fired at a woman, McCausland said. The woman was not injured.

The state trooper who killed Derick was identified as James MacDonald, a seven-year veteran who is a member of the State Police Tactical Team.

Information on Derick’s Facebook page says he worked for the carnival – “I’m a Carnie” – and that he graduated from Oak Hill High School in Wales and was married.

Sharon Seigel, treasurer and office manager for the town of Wales, confirmed those details by telephone Monday. Seigel, who knew Derick from her work with the town, said he was a veteran, and his Facebook page says he was a former repair mechanic in the Navy.

Seigel said along with taking videos with drones, Derick also did some disc jockey work at social events. “He was active in the American Legion,” she said. “Bill was a very kind-hearted fellow.”

She said he was known for his bald head, his tan and his penchant for wearing John Lennon-style sunglasses.

Seigel also said both Derick and his wife, Carrie Mccoy, grew up in Wales.

State police – including negotiators and members of the tactical team – responded to the home and tried to make contact with Derick for several hours, McCausland said.

About 3:30 a.m. Monday, there was an armed confrontation and MacDonald shot and killed Derick. No police officers were injured.

Route 132 was closed most of the night from Bull Run Road to Center Road and reopened later Monday. Derick’s body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta for an autopsy, according to McCausland.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office is investigating the incident, which is standard procedure in all police-involved shootings.

MacDonald has been placed on administrative leave with pay as the Attorney General’s Office reviews the shooting. That also is standard procedure.

Between Feb. 16, 2008 and the present, there have been 83 officer-involved shootings in Maine, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

‘THEY’RE NICE PEOPLE’

Around 1 p.m. Monday, yellow caution tape hung across the front of Derick’s property and state police investigators walked in and out of the single-wide unit, which was painted barn red with white trim.

Old furniture was piled on the front lawn, next to a small green shed, and a maroon van with bumper stickers was parked in the driveway. Two large signs were stuck to the front of the home, one on top of the other, with the phrases “Space Out” and “Defies Gravity” spelled in block letters. A fake road sign was planted at the end of the short driveway, declaring it “Harms Way.”

Two neighbors who live a couple of hundred feet down the road, Rosemary and Greg Johnson, said they didn’t know Derick and his wife well and had never been aware of any arguments between them.

The Johnsons are siblings who grew up on Pond Road, and Monday afternoon they were preparing a garden on one of their family properties, which overlooks Sabattus Pond.

The Johnsons still live in homes on that road, and the only nuisance that Greg Johnson could recall was that Derick sometimes lit fireworks late at night. The noise disrupted the neighbors’ sleep, and he worried about a fire being sparked.

Derick moved to the neighborhood with his parents decades ago, around 1970, the Johnsons said. They came from Massachusetts. Derick’s father died several years ago, but his mother, Wilma Derick, still lives on Pond Road, according to the Johnsons.

“They’re nice people,” Greg Johnson, 62, said of the parents. “I feel for Mrs. Derick,” he added, referring to Wilma Derick.

William Derick had a scant criminal history, according to a statewide records search. He was arrested on Feb. 28, 2012, by Auburn police on a Class E misdemeanor charge of theft of services, found guilty, and fined $50.

‘A SAD SITUATION’

The Johnsons also expressed shock and concern that the shooting had happened in their neighborhood, which they consider to be especially safe and quiet.

“We wish it didn’t happen,” said Rosemary Johnson, 68. While she thinks William Derick probably did something bad, she questioned whether police had to stop him with a fatal gunshot.

“I’m sure the police did what they had to,” her brother said.

Randall Greenwood, a Wales selectman and former legislator, said Monday he knew Derick’s family.

“I knew his dad well and I know his mom well.” Greenwood said Monday.

“It is a sad situation,” he said.

Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Betty Adams contributed to this report.

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