A Jewish summer camp requested a protection order after a Maine man allegedly fired about 20 rounds from a semiautomatic rifle toward basketball courts, prompting a facility lockdown.
Nathan Hewett, 36, is suspected of being intoxicated and motivated by antisemitic bias during the shooting on Aug. 7 near Camp Modin in the normally quiet town of Belgrade, according to a police affidavit, the New York Post reported.
Camp security guards wore ballistic vests and armed themselves to protect the campers. Shell casings found in the immediate area indicated that Hewett had fired toward its basketball courts, according to the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Post, Hewett blamed the camp for damage to his tractor lawn mower. After a confrontation, two security guards “heard the shots being fired from a high-powered rifle.”
Deputies seized 23 guns, including semiautomatic weapons, from Hewett’s property.
He was charged with reckless conduct with a gun, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm near a dwelling. He was released on bail and barred from possessing dangerous weapons, consuming alcohol or approaching within 1,000 feet of the campgrounds.
A hearing on the protection order is scheduled for Aug. 31.
