Suspect identified after four people found dead inside Maine home

A suspect accused of killing four people inside a home in Bowdoin, Maine and then wounding three others in a subsequent highway shooting has been identified.

Joseph Eaton was arrested Tuesday night and charged with four counts of murder. He is being held at Two Bridges Regional Jail and is expected to make an initial court appearance later this week, Maine State Police said in a news release.

Eaton allegedly went on a violent rampage before he was taken into custody by law enforcement.

Earlier Tuesday, state troopers responded to a home in Bowdoin, where they discovered the bodies of four people just before 10:30 a.m. Shortly after, authorities received reports of several vehicles getting struck by gunfire on I-295 in the area of Yarmouth, which is about 40 minutes outside of Bowdoin.

Three people were shot while driving and rushed to the hospital, according to state police said. At least one of the highway victims remained in critical condition as of Wednesday morning, authorities added.

Lt. Randall Keaten said both incidents are connected, though Eaton has not yet been charged in connection with the highway shootings.

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So far, authorities have released few other details. They did not identify the victims found inside the Bowdoin residence nor did they provide a cause of death.

A motive in both attacks also remains unclear.

“This is an active investigation with a lot of moving parts,” Shannon Moss, state police spokesperson, said Wednesday.

The seven people shot Tuesday were the latest victims of mass shootings in the U.S., where gunmen have most recently attacked a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn.; a bank in Louisville, Ky., and a Sweet Sixteen party in a small Alabama city.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills mourned the loss of the most recent victims and condemned the bloody violence that has occurred in her state and beyond.

“Like people across Maine, I am shocked and deeply saddened — acts of violence like we experienced today shake our state and our communities to the core,” Mill said, adding that she is praying for “families, friends and loved ones of those impacted by this tragedy” as well as the wounded.

With News Wire Services