Self-deploying officers and a leaked bulletin complicated Maine mass shooting response, police say

By DAVID SHARP and PATRICK WHITTLE
Associated Press

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — The state’s top police leader says officers arriving without assignments after the state’s deadliest mass shooting led to a chaotic scene that was difficult to manage. State Police Chief Col. William Ross says there’s no overarching policy on self-dispatching police officers and says it’s actually a good thing in an active shooter situation when police are responding to multiple locations. Ross testified Friday before a commission investigating the Oct. 25 mass shooting. He also spoke about how leaks of investigatory details complicated an already difficult search for the shooter.