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Police stay mum on city man's death as tributes pour in

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Maine State Police detectives at the scene of the shooting last month. (Portland Press Herald photo); inset, Michael Burns (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - While the fatal shooting of a Rochester man in Saco, Maine, last month remains shrouded in mystery, some details of his private life have come to light since his tragic death.

By all accounts, Michael William Burns was a respected Boy Scout leader, an inspiration to young people and a successful businessman who was the father of two boys who like their dad served in the armed forces.

The Rev. Matthew Mirabile, rector at Trinity Anglican Church of Rochester where Burns was a former communicant, said more than 200 mourners, many young people who were members of Burns' Boy Scout troop, attended the services.

On his Guest Book on the Edgerly Funeral Home website, one fellow Scouting acquaintance wrote, "Mike knew better than anybody how to advocate for the Scout-led program and really helped keep us centered in the Scouting Values of the Oath and Law. He will be missed by many!"

The two had met through Scouting and Wood Badge, an advanced national leadership course open only to Scouting volunteers and professionals.

Mirabile said some 30 or more Boy Scouts who had known Burns attended his services.

"Many of these mourners held Mike in very high esteem," he said.

Burns, 54, was killed early the morning of Sept. 30 by a single gunshot wound to the head, according to a report from the Maine State Medical Examiner's Office.

More than two weeks into the investigation Maine State Police have still released no more further information than they did the day he died.

Detectives said the man who shot Burns called police, and there were two other persons inside the house at the time.

The man who shot burns has not been identified, and no charges have been filed.

Police have disclosed few details of the shooting, including whether any of the men at the house previously knew Burns.

State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said several days ago detectives are "still investigating the circumstances" of the incident.

According to his obituary in The Rochester Voice, Burns was a graduate of Berwick Academy in South Berwick and Norwich University, a private Vermont military college that carries the distinction of being the oldest of its kind in the nation.

Burns, who was recently divorced, was a self-employed computer technician and an avid skier who served on the ski patrol at Gunstock.

But it was Scouting that was his overriding passion.

Another guest book entry ready, "Mike brought me back into Scouting just recently, and we restarted a friendship started by our fathers many years ago. I got a chance to see and hear Mike's heart as we talked all things Scouting. He had a heart for the kids and poured himself into Scouting. He will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him and called him friend."

Mirabile said while he didn't personally know Burns since he stopped attending Trinity Anglican several years ago, he was incredibly impressed with Burns' two sons and the hundreds who came to his funeral to speak about the quality of the man and his passion for Scouting.

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