Wild video captured an armed Maine dad’s unhinged rant towards abortion and homosexual rights throughout a standoff with police — moments earlier than he was shot useless by a SWAT group.
Steven Righini, 29, posted a video of himself on X ranting whereas holding a gun throughout a standoff with police Monday at his dwelling in Portage Lake, a northern Maine city of about 400 individuals, native outlet WMTW reported.
“My identify is Steven Righini. I’m a resident of Maine, and I had the cops referred to as on me. A SWAT group confirmed up, and I’m now engaged in a shootout,” Righini mentioned within the video.
“My state has been the primary abortion and homosexual rights state in the complete nation and I’ve been segregated towards for my beliefs. Now they’re making an attempt to arrest me just because I don’t imagine in homosexual rights and abortion,” he continued.
Righini accused Maine of changing into an “abortion mill” and railed towards authorities for “defending the rights of docs to homicide infants.”
“I’m right here with my child daughter, who they’re additionally making an attempt to remove. I guarantee you, I’m not the aggressor right here,” Righini rambles on whereas brandishing his gun.
Authorities responded to Righini’s dwelling after his 18-year-old spouse instructed police he had been preventing along with her and pushed her right into a wall. By the point cops arrived, his spouse was out of the home whereas Righini was nonetheless inside with their four-week-old daughter, the outlet reported.
Righini resisted arrest and a wrestle broke out. He then pulled a gun out of his waistband and shot at officers as he retreated into his dwelling, authorities mentioned.
He continued firing as officers tried to again away, his gunfire hanging Aroostook County Sheriff’s Deputy Shane Campbell within the shoulder. Campbell was taken to the hospital, the place he was handled and launched.
Negotiations between Righini and regulation enforcement lasted a number of hours till he tried to flee the house, solely to search out authorities had disabled his automobile, prompting him to attempt to run away on foot.
Police then despatched a Ok-9 named Preacher to apprehend Righini, who shot the canine within the stomach.
Two state police troopers then returned hearth at Righini, who was killed within the melee, authorities mentioned.
In the meantime, Ok-9 Preacher was rushed to an emergency veterinary clinic and finally died from his accidents on Tuesday.
Tracy Wadsworth, a clerk on the basic retailer simply throughout the road from the lethal standoff, mentioned she spoke with Righini’s spouse the subsequent day.
“She mentioned: ‘That’s not him,’” Wadsworth instructed the outlet. “She mentioned he was having some kind of psychological breakdown. She talked to him all through the day and tried to get him to give up, flip himself in, and he mentioned he couldn’t do it.”
Righini’s toddler daughter was not injured within the standoff, authorities mentioned. She has since been reunited along with her mom.
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