Naples boy elevated to fair condition after shooting

NAPLES — A nine-year-old Naples boy was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland on Thursday, May 19, with what responders described as a "life-threatening" head injury.

Gavin Gilmore was reportedly struck in the head with a .177 caliber pellet fired by his uncle, 26-year-old Daniel McGill, which lodged in the front of his brain.

According to Maine Medical Center, Gilmore's condition had been upgraded to "fair," as of Tuesday, meaning that vital signs were stable and Gilmore was conscious.

McGill was reportedly "extremely intoxicated" when Sergeant Josh Potvin of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department responded to the scene. Potvin reported that McGill initiated a physical confrontation while the Sergeant was attempting to locate the weapon, which resulted in a laceration to Potvin's hand and minor facial injuries for McGill. Both were treated at the scene.

According to a press release, McGill allegedly admitted at the scene to having accidentally shot his nephew while aiming at squirrels.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Department reports that McGill has been charged with four felonies, Class A Elevated Aggravated Assault, Class B Aggravated Assault, Class C Reckless Conduct with a Dangerous Weapon, and Class C Assault on a Police Officer.

According to Detective-Sergeant Jim Estabrook, the charge of Elevated Aggravated Assault arose because the suspect's alleged misuse of dangerous weapon while intoxicated represents a "depraved indifference to human life."

Estabrook compared using a gun while intoxicated to injuring someone while driving drunk. A death that results from a crash in which a driver is intoxicated is handled differently than a death that results from a crash involving a sober driver. Similarly, a weapon-related incident that occurs while a suspect is inebriated is treated differently than one in which a suspect is not.

"The elevated, it shows a depraved indifference toward human life that resulted in bodily injury," said Estabrook. "Let me put it to you this way: if you choose to drink and drive and you have a passenger in your car. And then you choose to drive fast, and you screw up and hit a tree and kill your passenger, that's Manslaughter."

The difference between Manslaughter and Elevated Aggravated Assualt, said Estabrook is, "One's dead, one's not."

McGill is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $100,000 cash bail or $250,000 in property. His most severe charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison or a $50,000 fine.