New Portland grandmother ‘lucky to be alive’ after Avon shooting
A New Portland woman who was shot Friday night at an Avon camp is “lucky to be alive,” her oldest son, Rory Smith Jr. of New Hampshire, said Wednesday.
Jessica Cairnie, 53, was shot through a windshield with a 9 mm handgun while picking up her grandchildren with her younger son, Smith said. She is recovering at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Jessica Cairnie, 53, of New Portland holds her 3-year-old granddaughter, Gracelyn, in this undated family photo. (Courtesy of Rory Smith Jr.)
Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit troopers are investigating. No one has been charged, but state police said in an update Wednesday that the suspect is cooperating.
Police said Cairnie was shot during an altercation over a child custody dispute, and that the names of others involved are being withheld because the investigation is ongoing.
The doctor told Smith that the bullet went through the upper lobe of Cairnie’s lung, missing his mother’ s heart by a centimeter, he said. The doctor was able to remove the bullet and repair her lung.
The doctor said it is an “absolute miracle” that it missed her heart and she is alive, Smith said.
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Smith said the shooting happened as Cairnie and her younger son went to pick up his children at his ex-wife’s family camp in Avon in Franklin County.
Cairnie, who lives in Somerset County, drives her younger son when he goes to pick up his three children — all under age 6 — from his ex-wife, per a custody order, Smith said.
“My mother is the neutral party in the case,” he said.
It was his brother’s weekend to have his children, Smith said. There was a disagreement over whether he could pick up the kids Friday or Saturday, he said.
His brother arrived at the camp Friday at 6:15 p.m.
Smith said his brother went to check on the kids while his mother, who was in a left leg brace following surgery, waited in the car.
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While in the car, Smith said, his mother was shot. His brother pushed his mother into the passenger’s seat and got in the driver’s seat. He put the vehicle in reverse and backed down the driveway, using his free hand to put pressure on their mother’s wound.
His brother called 911 and dispatchers told him to stop the vehicle and to put more pressure on the wound to stop the loss of blood, Smith said. A Maine Health EMS ambulance met them there.
The ambulance crew put his mother in the ambulance and drove her to the Charles Lindbergh Airport in Avon. She was flown by LifeFlight of Maine to Maine Medical Center.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Cairnie with medical expenses.
Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story.
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Tagged: maine medical center, SHOOTING
Donna M. Perry is a general assignment reporter who has lived in Livermore Falls for 30 years and has worked for the Sun Journal for 20 years. Before that she was a correspondent for the Livermore Falls. More by Donna M. Perry
