LAMOINE, Maine — Police shot and killed an armed Lamoine man Tuesday morning, ending a 6 ½ -hour manhunt that began when a family member reported the man had shot his father and uncle.
Police say Leon Tilden, 27, killed his relatives, whose bodies were discovered after Tilden’s mother called 911 around 3:30 a.m. to report the shooting.
State Police investigators were on scene Tuesday night at the Tilden family home at 16 Bobolink Lane, where police say the bodies were found.
The victims were Tilden’s father, Robert Tilden, 50, and uncle, Russell Pinkham, also 50.
Bobolink Lane is a gravel driveway off Mud Creek Road, at the end of which are two homes — one belongs to the Tilden family, the other to Pinkham. The homes are flanked by woods and open fields.
On Tuesday night, investigators in latex gloves swarmed one of the homes — a small, blue one-story building near an unfinished structure and a woodshop. A sheep grazed in the field.
Police did not release any information about a possible motive for Tilden allegedly shooting his family members, and said the on-scene investigation would continue into Wednesday morning. According to Lt. Col. Raymond Bessette of the Maine State Police, Leon Tilden’s mother Lori and brother Benjamin were in the home when Tilden fatally shot the two men.
Two deputies from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 911 call and discovered the bodies of Pinkham and the senior Tilden.
“Both were deceased of gunshot wounds,” Bessette told reporters around 1 p.m. The deputies evacuated the remaining family members and called the Maine State Police, beginning a manhunt that lasted about 6 ½ hours.
Around 10 a.m., members of the Maine State Police Tactical Team encountered Tilden near the family home. The suspect was armed, Bessette said, when he was shot. Police are not releasing any details about the encounter, including whether Tilden fired at police before he was shot.
Tilden was shot by Detective Randall Keaten of the Maine State Police Tactical Team. After he was shot, he was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he was declared dead around 11:30 a.m.
“Our hearts go out to the surviving members of the family,” Bessette said.
Keaton is an eight-year veteran of the state tactical team. Following standard procedure, he will be placed on paid administrative leave while the attorney general’s office investigates his use of deadly force.
State police were aided in their manhunt by the Maine Warden Service, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Ellsworth Police Department, Marine Patrol and the state police’s crisis negotiation team and K-9 units.
The Major Crime Unit will investigate the initial double homicide, said Lt. Christopher Coleman. Police were not able to begin their investigation until the scene was secure.
The incident and manhunt shut down Mud Creek Road for much of Tuesday. It was opened again around 4:30 p.m.
The Lamoine town office served as a crisis counseling center for members of Tilden’s family on Tuesday morning, according to Stu Marckoon, administrative assistant to the Board of Selectmen. Marckoon said Tilden’s family left the town office shortly after the suspect was shot.
According to the Maine Bureau of Identification, no matches for Tilden are in the bureau’s criminal history database.
Information published during the past decade in the Bangor Daily News indicates that Tilden had been found guilty of roughly half-a-dozen minor offenses in Ellsworth District Court, dating back to 2004. Those offenses include criminal mischief, consumption of alcohol by a minor, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and without proof of financial responsibility. Tilden had been fined a total of $1,100 for those offenses, according to court records.
Many residents were wondering Tuesday morning how another fatal shooting could have happened in Lamoine — which has only 1,600 residents — in less than a year.
“This is certainly an anomaly of the way of life in Lamoine,” Marckoon said.
In March, four men were shot in an early-morning confrontation outside of house on Route 184.
Lawrence “Randy” Sinclair, 32, of Ellsworth, died in that shooting. Torrey Garland, 34, and Joshua McKinney, 25, both of Ellsworth, suffered gunshot wounds but have since recovered.
Michael Carter, 30, who lived at the house where the shooting occurred, is being held without bail at Hancock County Jail on charges of murder, elevated aggravated assault, aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm. Carter also was shot in the leg during the incident when Tacy Mullins, his girlfriend who lived with him at the home, tried to grab the gun away from him, police and witnesses have said. Carter also has recovered from his gunshot wound.
According to a police affidavit, the shooting in March was precipitated by a series of confrontational phone calls, primarily between Garland and Carter, over a paint job that Garland and McKinney recently had done on Carter’s truck.
On Tuesday, Carol Duffy, a fifth-grade teacher at Lamoine Consolidated School, said all the students were kept in the gym for about four hours during the manhunt, when the school was on lockdown.
Duffy, a 35-year veteran of the school, was a sixth-grade teacher when Leon Tilden was her pupil in 1997. She said she hadn’t seen Tilden since then, but that knowing that a former student met such a violent end is hard for a teacher.
“You feel sick to your stomach,” she said.
At the Lamoine General Store, Assistant Manager Stacey Dannenberg said Tuesday morning that local residents have been rattled by the latest outbreak of violence in the small coastal town.
“It kind of makes you wonder what happened to the quietness here,” she said.
Follow BDN reporters Bill Trotter and Mario Moretto on Twitter at @billtrotter and at @riocarmine, respectively.
How horrific.
Someone has lost a husband, a brother and a son in one small moment in time.
I agree, very senseless and sad. The poor mother, I cant fathom.
i feel sorry for that family
So very sad…
My condolences to the family, most especially Leon’s mother. My prayers go with you and your community on this sad day and each day as you try to make sense of the truly senseless.
Except for his mother who has lost a husband and son all in one terrible and tragic day. These are all still people.
The human element is lost in many of these commentaries.
I met Rob Tilden only once about 10 years ago – I was afraid it might be him. Rob may not have been the most educated fellow you ever met but after a short time I realized his intelligence ran far deeper than a formal education. As we stood over the hood of his truck one fall afternoon, he knew every plant in sight and what their uses were in terms of medicinal properties. We then headed to the ocean where he was avidly trying to learn all he could about marine plants as well. I learned so much from him that day that I was reluctant to leave. The man worked hard. He said he cut wood (lots of it), tipped for wreaths, grew some oysters, lived the hardscrapple Maine existence and certainly kept his brain engaged. I’ve thought about Rob many times over the last ten years as I looked at the plants around me. He seemed to run surprisingly deep – far deeper than anyone probably gave him credit for if I had to guess. He seemed like a genuine and gentle soul. Peace to the Tilden family
I wonder what may have set him off to kill members of his own family?
sometimes family disputes run deep . i know that. i have sister and brother we dont get along . i am the black sheep in the family. sometimes things get heated like on property legal issues. dont know what it was with them. maybe they were in something illegal. money is the root of all evil sometimes
I’ve never had that problem in my family, but I have friends that have so much hate for their siblings they have not spoken since childhood.
well ours started when we were young. funny thing i was the only child for 10 years wanted a brother and sister then when the came 10 years later. it was different. the age difference made it hard . i could use my brother and sister now. they arent there. families get divided i guess that is in the bible. the end times i guess
Sorry to hear about your brother and sister…that is quite an age difference…almost like a different family. My youngest brother, 9 years my junior,and I never had much of a relationship; in fact I don’t remember much about him when I was in my teens. We were far apart until we got older and became good friends. My mom was instrumental in keeping us at the same age. ha ha.
Rob Tilden was the father
DRUGS what else.
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
Prayers Tilden family.
Well now, this is a First !! a decent comment involving; which I would say, was a very troubled young man….Expressing loving memories and thoughts for a fellow human who lost their way. Great story! You are so respectful!!!
I believe he was talking about the father. His name is Robert. The suspect is Leon.
It’s a shame that this young man wasn’t treated at The Acadia Hospital prior to this very unfortunate incident. I’m sure that he would of received the proper treatment and this could have been averted.
WOW!
heart less
When was the other “multiple homicide” in Lamoine in less than a year? The Sinclair/Carter thing was a single homicide, right?
My condolences to the Tilden and Pinkham families. May God be with you in this time of great sorrow and anguish. Trooper Keating may God bless you for your efforts to keep the citizens of Maine safe. Thank You to all of the law enforcement and public officials involved. It is great to know that even though these tragedies can not be stopped you will do everything in your power to keep us safe when an emergancy occurs. God be will you all and keep you safe.
After today, she may wish she was. She is going to need a lot of support to get through all of this. Her son kills her husband, his father and then the cops shoot her son to death. The shooting of the son was undoubtedly justifiable which has got to be so much worse for her.
sorry..meant to respond to another post.
If a man’s death makes you feel better, what makes you feel really great?
Are you kidding? Who would not lose sleep after shooting another person? Keep in mind that Mrs. Tilden lost her son, husband, and brother today. Detective Keaton will lose some sleep-for alot of nights. Have a heart won’t you?
I do not know what drove this man to kill his father and uncle because I know nothing about the family. I know that he was armed and willing to use his weapon, and that he was shot and killed in the confrontation with police. I feel for the surviving family members left to make sense of what does not seem to make any sense.
Your comment is very clear to me. Would you repeat it to his mother’s face in person? It’s your right to make it, most people would not.
Thank you Maine State Police.
for your abysmal lack of crisis intervention skills for the mentally ill.
lack of funds more of this type thing . you cut mainecare. DHS . lot of stress in the world do to the economy
Please. You weren’t there. Mentally ill or not, did the suspect have a gun pointed at someone first? Regardless, the whole situation is sad.
Yes, but the saddest part is that Mrs. Tilden put her trust in the police, and they killed her son.
Don’t you find it odd that the police will only say he was armed? Makes me think they are trying to work out a story that makes sense with what actually happened.. There could be problems if the autopsy reveals the young man had 5 bullet wounds from the back…not to worry, by the time the State Police finish their report, the suspect WILL have pointed a gun at the police. Yet, if that was really true, they would have happily released that info already. I am very suspicious about this multi-tragedy.
Does the fact that the man had just killed two other people in cold blood enter into your hypothetical analysis?? If you had just killed two people, then pointed your gun in the direction of a law enforcement officer, the outcome is predictable. At what point in that scenario should the troopers taken the time to conduct a psychological examination of the suspect?
You have absolutely no idea what it is like to be in that situation, and to have to make that split-second decision; while knowing full-well that the rest of society is going to armchair quarterback your decisions for the rest of time. It is a luxury to sit at your computer hours and days after such an event and criticize the actions of the Police. I suggest you respond to the next incident like this and see just what it entails. In fact, I suggest you do so without the protection of the Police. Then, when the dust settles, (if you survive), you can justify to the rest of us why you made the instantaneous decisions that you did.
I have many friends in law enforcement, yet I abhor the use of deadly force, and do do they. The men and women who protect and serve have a duty to us, but they have a duty to their families too, to come home at the end of the day.
It does seem that young Mr. Tilden had some issues that got him to this point but he had already proved he was capable of killing and he was armed. I doubt Det. Keating had much choice but to shoot the younger Tilden as well. Most of these officers were family men, who are sensitive to the fact that Leon’s mother had already suffered a terrible loss and did not want to add to it. I think we have to keep in mind that by the time this young man encountered law enforcement officials, suicide by cop had at least occurred to him.
My condolences to the families of Tilden and Pinkham, especially Mrs. Tilden. I cannot imagine this loss. My prayers are with you, your family and the entire community as you try to deal with this tragedy.
My heart goes out to the surviving members of the family. What a tragic event for all involved. May you find piece in all this sorrow! Just a sad day for all!
Not much for ranking high on compassion and caring, are ya?
No matter what he did (or who he did it to), there are still people out there who care about him, who are mourning his death. He leaves behind a 6-year old. In her eyes, he’s not some killer, he’s her daddy, plain and simple.
I love your postings and reactions, your sarcastic like me. LOL!
And you know what happens when people assume, right?
Yep they are either right or wrong.. And seeing how the Officer shot him and there is no report of a wrongful shoot I’m guessing I was correct. The entire comment section is full of assumptions. Nothing new.
An investigation into the use of deadly force by a police officer takes weeks, not minutes.
Correct but simply the fact that he was fleeing From a violent felony gives justification for deadly force
not if he came out with his hands up with weapon down. even cops jump the gun out of fear. unless you were there i doubt you have any valid info.
Similarly, neither do you. Why would you even make such an outrageous suggestion?
That is a gross oversimplification.
There is little oversimplification, if you point a firearm at a law enforcement officer you should expect to be shot, period. As kids most of us with responsible parents were taught to never point a gun at anything we were not going to kill. Those officers are brave men and women who risk thier lives everyday to protect ours.
Few have pointed weapons at the state police tactical team and lived.
We’re reading many accounts of Bangor Police Officers being confronted with similar life-threatening situations and resorting to less lethal ways of arrest.
The exact details of this incident are not known. That’s why the officer involved is on leave, pending the results of an investigation which will determine whether deadly force was necessary.
All previous cases by Maine’s current AG William J. Schneider, have resulted in acquittal of the state police officers involved.
I am pro law enforcement and would have to guess the detective was in a situation that dictated his use of deadly force, but simply fleeing from a violent felony in itself does not justify deadly force. The officer or an innocent third party must be in grave danger of serious bodily harm or death, the suspect must have the intention and means to cause such harm.
Yet another guess. Does that make anything legal?
I am pretty sure that fleeing from a violent felony, in this case murder, does in fact legally justify deadly force. Not going to debate if it should be that way nor do I have any clue if that was the case here (that he was trying to flee) but just stating that I am pretty sure that deadly force by police is justified if that is what happens. And I can see why in some circumstances. Say in this case the guy has just killed two people, police encounter him and he attempts to flee from them rather then confront them(as obviously many would). Do the police stop him from fleeing by shooting him or let him go to potentially kill someone else. I recall a case from downstate a few years back (sorry the exact place and department escape me) but basically an officer encountered the suspect driving out a dirt road in a vehicle after dark. The suspect had killed someone and threatened to kill police, the officer could have in that case stepped aside and let the guy drive right on by without initiating contact, the officer figured that he needed to confront the guy to prevent him from endangering other people (officers or civilians) on his terms or by surprise, the officer made his presence known and ended up shooting the suspect. I wish I could find all the details but that is what I recall. The officer was criticized for creating the situation that caused the confrontation, but it was a justified shooting.
Yet another presumption. It’s good that the state selection process for judges is a little more careful.
As you said: “I am guessing.” So you’re not correct. And, it is you sir, who is making ” the entire comment section (is) full of assumptions.”
What a great sadness. My heartfelt prayers to the families that have and will continue to endure this tragedy for a long time to come. I hope the community can come together and support the family. God Bless you all!
I’m not debating what he deserved. I will tell you that Mrs. Tilden has lost 3 people today. You feel better that he is gone, but she does not. A little kindness toward her would be nice.
yes kindness to mrs tilden
Lamoine is now Getto
..a ghetto
There being nothing in this article to suggest just what happened in that house at that time, or what was awry in that family, readers of the news can only guess the reasons for the snap, but what seems clear from what seems to be a growing frequency of such outbursts in hardscrabble areas is the cracking of our social glue, and that’s just plain bad news.
Of most I’ve read, yours, I must agree is more on target. But a generalization seems to be that the fundamental basic societal goals, and a lack of being able to handle social issues, represent giant tears in the fabric of today’s family structure. What happened in this family is not known. It’s impossible to say at this juncture. Too tragic to mess with.
But events over the past decade in Maine make me wonder: Who needs to watch TV? Or, go to the movies? Everyone from babies to seniors are inured to violence. Our lives are saturated in daily replays of hackneyed, horrible story lines about killing.
Every violent story on film is being replayed in real life. And, vice versa. Reading the BDN is like reading the scripts. Indeed, many of these tragedies have been re-created on film. Yet, they all fraudulently claim their work to be “entertainment.”
To say that “art imitates life” is backward. Today , violence coupled with ear-busting noise alleged to be “music” is entertainment?
Seriously, you can tell what random people define their identity with by simply reading a semi-annonymous handle on an internet comment board? As my identity is much more than my chosen name here, I am sure that jemileesmom also is much the same.
Well, with the blatant User_IDs, we probably can safely draw certain conclusions. Just like we can about a person when he or she can distinguish correctly among “their,” “there,” and “they’re” — n’est-ce pas?
No, it really isn’t so. Yes, I made a mistake in my typing. I also made a mistake in hitting the post button prior to proof reading. However, if you think you know all you need to know about me based on that one mistake, have at it.
I think I will play along with your game just for fun. Based on what I have read here from you, I draw the conclusion that you are a shallow, judgmental person.
“Proofreading.”
I am so very lucky to have stumbled upon my very own editor! I most certainly am not worthy.
shallow
Vraiment des gens ignorants comme vous ne sont pas très pertinente dans cette vie. Votre grossièreté est scandaleuse et injustifiée envers les autres.N’est-ce pas? Oui.
Well played.
wish i could press like more than once.
LOVE IT!!!
If mine’s a pile crap I suppose yours could be Hell in a bucket. We can’t see the future a little compassion can go a long ways, I’m not drawing any conclusions though.
We <3 non-native English speakers.
There’s an unwritten rule here about picking up on sentence structure and spelling in a hurtful way.I cringe when people beat up on those with perhaps less than perfect spelling or sentence structure. If you can understand the point of the argument-that’s good enough for most of us. Maine is full of wonderful people who have a lot to say. 8th grade educations to those with a PHD are welcome to comment here.
You get worse by the minute. Can you let the women have her grief without suggesting that she may have been a bad parent? His”burden” on society up until today amounted to $1100.00 in fines in total-hardly Charles Manson is he? You have no idea what happened with the Tilden family.
Mrs. Tilden, I am sorry that your son killed your husband and his or your brother, and that the police took steps to protect the rest of us from your son. You have my condolences and my heart goes out to the detective who executed his judgement in killing your son.
Pardon me, Westy: did I say something wrong?
Much better……
One of the biggest losers here is Randy Keaton. What an awful thing to have to do!
Keep the faith, Randy, you are the best!
Trust me, you are not, and never will be my friend.
Okay; but let neither of us be surprised one day to discover from whom Jemi Lee learned how to hate people who think differently from him/her. VERY un-Maine-like.
I don’t hate people who are different from me. You called me friend, and I corrected you.
That comment does NOT belong in this story. You’re probably one who was blaming this entire tragedy on drugs in the earlier articles today. For shame.
Our love to Mrs. Tilden and Officer Keaton. Hang in there Lamoine. We’re not abandoning you ever!!!!! You’re still Maine family to us!!!!!
I don’t think you can give your love to Mrs. Tilden AND the Police Officer who will soon be exonerated for killing her son.
And who are you patsy12 to determine that?
I won’t judge anyone here. The deceased will be recognized, some will be praised, and then all will be forgiven. Isn’t that what the Christians and others are taught?? Officer Keaton will be reviewed. As of right now we assume he was fulfilling the responsibilities of his position. Please join me patsy12. Send your love to all. It’s the best way.
you are so right inkydink. I wish I could feel like you, but I just don’t. been crushed under too many manure piles, I think. I envy people like you.
Sure you can they are two people who will have to live with this the rest of their lives. Det Keaton did not get called away from his family early that morning and said oh boy I hope I get to shoot someone. Police officers struggle with their decisions and involvement in shootings even if some of them themselves wont admit it.
I think you are useless.
really keep your stupid opinions to yourself. you do not know what happened, what drove Leon to shoot his dad or uncle and sincerely doubt his mom or brother or you were on his list. He obviously had emotional issues and his mother and brother love him just the same. your comments only hurt others. The cop who shot him I doubt wants your thanks for having to shoot a 27 year old boy
Replying to my “stupid” opinion with another stupid opinion defeats the purpose. He’s a murderer. He lost his rights when he made the choice. However I figured someone would say “he needed help”. Poor him.
What evidence do you have to indicate that he didn’t need help?
Who are you? And why is it you feel so eminently disposed to make such a radical and non-compassionate verdict on a fellow human being?
This is yet another in a series of mounting tragedies that have engulfed this state for the past decade. As concerned Mainers, we need to band together and seek guidance so that we could prevent reoccurance of such horrors.
The plain fact is – at least to anyone having, or trying to measure some common understanding of human nature and its tragedies, is that some people do indeed need help. Many times that help is not readily available. Sometimes, impossible to obtain.
Since none of us, except the suffering family, are aware of any problems that existed, or, could have existed with this young man, we all need to hold our judgemental tongues.
Why compound the families’s grief during this horrific tragedy?
If the Devil is evil, why does he punish evil people?
which came first..the chicken or the egg
Egg’s predate Chickens. All Chickens come from eggs thus the egg had to come first. And, evolution doesn’t work over night. It took lots of time for chickens to become chickens, but they still were born from eggs leading up to that. It could have purposefully been bred (like all the other animals we consume) from other forms of fowl and hatched as more or less a chicken, but the egg still had to come first and it wasn’t laid by a chicken to begin with, but rather perhaps a proto-chicken. Pretty simple stuff. Its a rather flawed premise, anyway, that for some reason people still use.
But, how is that related to the problem of evil, and the flawed nature of religion?
your question is just as open to discussion as mine.there is no across the board answer for either one
I don’t really see how the existence of chickens or the devil being evil is really open to discussion. I’m pretty sure the theory of evolution and the bible are both pretty clear on those subjects. And yeah, you can call evolution just a theory, but gravity is also a theory, one that you might not care to test.
looks like you have your mind all made up..a little narrow minded to entertain other ways of theories ?
You know that the two people he shot didn’t deserve it themselves how exactly? Not saying they did, but your view is ignorant. I grew up in that town and around that family and I can tell you, no innocents died today.
How so, Dexter?
I’m thinking the same thing. (not that I know the family) Family issues can run years deep, and no one knows what sparked this event. No matter, it is tragic.
Nice to know that there are still compassionate people left around! I hope the same tragedy never befalls you or your family. Common decency is a lot different than treading lightly and always worrying about someone’s feelings. I hope that you learn that one day.
Good shoot. The Maine State Police did well here and everyone is safer for it.
What banality of evil thinking is this?
you dont know what set him off. he may have been on drugs bathsalts makes one go crazy
i think ur the most cold hearted person there i ever seen on here the way u dont care for her feelings. ur a sick sick man !!!!!!!
A sheep grazed in the field.
WOW, a town worse than Skowtown,Lewiston and Biddeford: Lamoine,Maine.
Have you ever been there? It’s nothing like those towns.
Lived in Lewiston… Lived in Lamoine. No comparison… None at all.
don’t drink the water in Lamoine
The law enforcement personnel have shown the utmost
compassion in this case.
After sending in a tactical squad sniper that did their job and
shot the man that had gunned down his father and uncle, the
law called in a life flight helicopter to rush him to a medical facility
and to try and save his life.
I imagine that there would be many others that would not
have bothered with the medivac chopper.
Best wishes to all involved in this nightmare.
Before any one person post a word they should sit back and place themselfs in the familys shoes…. it is a sad sad event that shound never happen to any one. I went to school with both the mother of Leon and was good friends with his uncle. both people involved were loving,caring,peaceful souls that would give their shirts off their back for a person in need. I understand that we live in a country that we have the right to speak our minds but at times I feel that this should be over riden with common sence with compassion for our fellow man and the pain that they may be going through. So if you others want to use this familys horror to express your politcal views with the dhs cutbacks go right ahead it is after all your right….my 1 hope is you will stop and put your heart in place before your p/c
Very sad that these things are happening right here in our back yards. My condolences to the surviving family members and to the officer who had to make such a tough decision to take a life in order to protect the well-being of himself and the rest of the public. It’s so sad all the way around. The mother who lost 3 family members…I can’t imagine what that is like.
I’m hoping that we end up hearing what the motive was for this seemingly senseless act of violence. Either way, justice was served.
Justice is NEVER served without a trial, evidence, and due process. A “legal woman” should know that.
I have to agree with Tux, justice was not served here. I am not even sure there could have been any justice for this situation. I believe, however, it did end the only way it could have. This was clearly a distraught young man with a weapon who had killed two people he probably loved at some point in his life, I doubt he wanted to be taken alive or to spend the rest of his life remembering this night. That is tragic.
Life is sometimes very tough/rough. occasionally people snap from the stress. In my opinion it looks VERY hard to be a person starting out today.
I suggest taking it very easy on those folks close to this tragedy. Most of you have no idea who Leon was, and I’m guessing none of you KNOW what went on to cause this horrible act.
I have no answers as to why the police in Maine have to shoot so many suspects. I have no idea why so many younger people feel that life is cheap.
After situations like this I always call my family members and tell them how much I appriciate them.
It makes me feel good. They tell me it does the same for them.
Why is the Major Crime Unit going to be investigating this. It will be a waste of time and money. The two men are dead and so is the shooter. Why waste time on it when there’s nothing that can be done about it.
Why?
I also wonder why the writer did not name the deputies who first responded.