Joseph Eaton Bowdoin gunman confesses killing his parents & their two friends. Victims id as David and Cynthia Eaton Robinson along with Robert and Patricia Eger.
A lone gunman has confessed to killing his parents and their two of their friends before opening fire on a Maine highway, a day after he alleged in a Facebook Live video that he was ‘traumatized’ after being ‘molested.’
Joseph Eaton, 34, admitted to the shootings as well as to opening fire along Interstate 295, injuring three people, a Maine State Police spokesman said during a Wednesday press conference.
In a chilling Facebook Live video posted a day before the massacre, the suspect made reference to his mother, Cynthia Eaton Robinson. She was 62.
The others three fatalities included Eaton’s father, David Eaton, 66, and their friends Robert Eger, 72, and Patricia Eger, 62, who the parents were staying with. The murders took place at the Eger’s home in the town of Bowdoin.
The three people wounded while driving on the highway have been named as Sean Halsey, 51, Justin Halsey, 29, and Paige Halsey, 25. Paige is listed as being in critical condition.
‘Life as a whole is suffering!’ Bowdoin shooter long criminal rap sheet: released from jail 4 days prior https://t.co/6l4GwIMCr3 #Joseph Eaton #Joseph Eaton maine #Bowdoin shooting
— Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) April 19, 2023
Long criminal rap sheet
The gunman will make his first appearance in court this week. He has been charged with four counts of first degree murder.
According to his mother’s Facebook page, she and her husband lived in Ocala, Florida, just north of Orlando. Posts on her page show she and her husband to be passionate supporters of ex-President Donald Trump.
Eaton was charged over the past decade with more than a half-dozen crimes and and completed a sentence for assault on April 14, according to state records.
Past convictions included aggravated assault, a felony that would prevent him from legally having a firearm.
The origins and ownership of the firearms used in Tuesday’s shootings were unclear. State police declined to comment on the weapon that was used.
Eaton has a criminal history in both Maine and Florida. His crimes include felony aggravated assault, domestic violence and violence against a law enforcement officer, reports the Portland Press Herald.
The suspect was sentenced to three years in prison in the Sunshine State on felony weapons and assault charges in 2018.
The Maine Wire has discovered an emotional video Bowdoin shooting suspect Joseph Eaton posted to Facebook less than 24 hours before he allegedly shot and killed four people. pic.twitter.com/1sBuolOoIR
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) April 19, 2023
‘Try to forgive me’
On Friday, Eaton wrote on Facebook: It’s finally over. There are so many people I can’t wait to see.’ A day later he posted a photo showing him eating breakfast with the caption: ‘Real food!!!!’
In the chilling video posted on Monday, Eaton asks people to ‘try to forgive him’ and reveals that he suffers from trauma after being molested.
‘Being molested and stuff. It destroys somebody. I know I’m good for my kids. I just wish people would forgive me, you know, some people. I don’t get it,’ Eaton said. He does not say from whom he is seeking forgiveness.
Wrote the gunman, two days earlier: ‘Life as a whole is suffering. You work for the duration, you get sick, people you love die, and your guaranteed to have ‘bad days.’ You die and lose everything you spent your life obtaining. There is more to it than meets the eye. Life is a trial for what is to come,’
Following the shooting, Bowdinham resident Ian Halsey said that some of the victims were his cousins. ‘My cousin is in critical condition and my other cousin is stable. There is no connection between the victims. It was random that my family was shot at,’ Halsey told the Portland Press Herald.
The suspect left the Maine Correctional Center in Windham on Friday where he had served time for aggravated assault, where he was picked up by his mother, according to the state authorities. Four days later, Eaton would shoot dead his mother along with his father.
Police to date have declined to say what motivated the killings as they continue investigating.
