AUBURN, Maine — The man whose actions triggered a massive manhunt across Lewiston and Auburn on Thursday forcing schools, hospitals, and other institutions into lockdown or shelter-in-place mode, was arrested Friday night in Auburn.
Ryan Lizotte, 34, was taken into custody at about 7:30 p.m. after police tracked him to a residence on Turner Street. He was arrested on an earlier domestic violence assault charge.
The arrest came one day after a sweeping search across the Twin Cities put much of Lewiston on edge and disrupted normal life for students, hospital staff, patients, and residents throughout the area.
Auburn Man Triggers Lockdowns Across Lewiston-Before Police Say No Gun Was Observed
Police from Lewiston and Auburn converged on the Turner Street home Friday night after learning Lizotte was there.
The search for Lizotte began early Thursday morning in Auburn after a family member reported that he had made threatening remarks and may have been armed just hours before he was expected to check himself into a Lewiston hospital.
By Thursday afternoon, the situation had escalated dramatically. At about 4 p.m., police learned Lizotte might be in the Union Street area of Lewiston, setting off a major law enforcement response involving Lewiston and Auburn police as well as deputies from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office.
The result was widespread disruption across the community.
Schools and hospitals were forced to take emergency precautions as officers searched for Lizotte. Bates College and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center moved to shelter in place, while Lewiston Middle School was placed on lockdown during the lengthy search.
For hours, the incident created fear and uncertainty across Lewiston as law enforcement worked to locate a man initially believed to pose a broader threat.
But by Thursday night, police began scaling back the search after new information revealed that Lizotte had not made threats against the public as previously believed. Authorities also said no gun had ever been seen.
Even so, the lockdowns had already sent a clear message about how quickly a single police incident can ripple across an entire community.
By Friday night, that manhunt finally came to an end with Lizotte’s arrest in Auburn, closing the immediate chapter on an incident that rattled both sides of the river and brought daily life in parts of Lewiston to a standstill.
