Maine Man Dies After Being Shot By Own Homemade Booby Trap

A Maine man was killed on Thursday evening after being shot by his own home-rigged booby trap, the Washington Post reports.

According to the Van Buren, Maine police department, 65-year-old Ronald Cyr called 911 and told the dispatchers that he had been shot. When first responders got to his home, they gave Cyr medical assistance but they were unable to stop him from succumbing to his injury. 

Authorities learned that Cyr’s house was “outfitted with a device designed to fire a handgun should anyone attempt to enter the door.” They also discovered that the home was rigged with “other unknown devices,” forcing them to call the Maine state police bomb squad. Following an investigation, it was concluded on Friday that Cyr was shot “as the result of the unintentional discharge of one of his homemade devices.” 

The Guardian was able to reach two people, Mark and Lorraine, who claimed to be Cyr’s siblings. They told the publication that Cyr believed that his home had been burglarized in the past. He reportedly complained to the police that various items had gone missing, but they allegedly dismissed him as “senile.” This led Ronald to take matters “into his own hands” by wiring his house with booby traps. 

“He was afraid,” Mark said. “The cops wouldn’t do nothing so he took matters [into his own hands].”

Although they understood his plight, Mark and Lorraine tried to convince Ronald to look into different methods. They tried fences and security cameras, but Ronald decided that traps were the best solution. 

“We were not in favor of him doing that because he wasn’t used to guns—really, that was not his forte—but he was so frustrated,” Lorraine said.