Police in Maine kill armed man following a home invasion and four-hour standoff

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Leein Hinkley by is licensed under Maine State Police
AUBURN, ME- Two homes have been burned down and two are dead following an early morning standoff in Auburn on Saturday.

Just before 1:00 a.m. Saturday, 43-year-old Leein Hinkley attempted to break into a home. Police said that Hinkley fought with a man inside the home while a woman called 911 and escaped through a window after hearing gunshots.

AP News reported that the woman was found down the street by Auburn police officers and identified Hinkley as the person who broke into the home.

Timothy Cougle, Auburn’s deputy chief of police, said that Hinkley could be heard yelling at police from inside the house as he fired at officers. At that time, Auburn police called in the Maine State Police (MSP) tactical team and issued a shelter-in-place order. They also evacuated homes and shut down a section of the Auburn street.

Another fire was reported around 1:30 a.m. on the same street. Hinkley fled to a neighboring garage and then again to the rooftop of another home on the street. Once on the flat rooftop, police said that Hinkley began brandishing a firearm while “yelling and screaming” at police.

MSP Col. William Ross said that the four-hour standoff came to an end just after 5:30 a.m. when two state troopers shot and killed Hinkley. He did not provide further details on what happened during the standoff.

Late Saturday, fire investigators confirmed that unidentified human remains were found in the home that Hinkley initially invaded.

According to Ross, Hinkley was in custody for a probation violation related to a 2011 conviction for elevated aggravated assault and domestic violence, along with a recent domestic violence arrest. He was released on Wednesday on a lowered bail amount of $1,500 “with conditions including house arrest at a residence in Lewiston.”

Hinkley had originally been sentenced in 2012 to 20 years for stabbing his former girlfriend as well as a good Samaritan that tried to intervene in that incident.

Saturday’s shelter-in-place order and evacuations due to the standoff triggered memories of the mass-shooting in the neighboring town of Lewiston in late 2023 where 18 people were killed and 13 others were injured.

“It’s been an intense and tragic morning here in Auburn, especially in light of the events that took place this past October,” Timothy Cougle said.

The troopers involved in the shooting are on leave pending the outcome of the attorney general’s investigation.
 
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