In the early morning hours of April 25, 2018, Somerset County Corporal Eugene Phillip Cole, 61, was shot and killed in Norridgewock, Maine. Cole encountered 29-year-old John D. Williams on a darkened road while attempting to arrest him on drug charges; the encounter ended when Cole was shot once in the neck and later found dead on the lawn of a Mercer Road residence.

After the shooting Williams reportedly stole Cole’s fully marked cruiser, drove to a Cumberland Farms, robbed the store, and fled. The abandoned cruiser on Martin Stream Road led to a large multiagency, four-day manhunt that ended when officers arrested Williams outside a remote cabin, reportedly with Cole’s handcuffs in his possession.

Cole had served 13 years with the department and was remembered by the community. Williams was charged with murder; trial arguments described heavy drug use as the defense and intentional action to avoid returning to jail as the prosecution. If anyone knew Corporal Cole, saw activity around Mercer Road or Martin Stream Road on April 25, 2018, or has information about the events that morning, please come forward.