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Press Herald columnist died of gunshot wound to his neck

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M.D. Harmon (Courtesy photo)

SANFORD - The former editor of the Portland Press Herald who died in an apparent accidental shooting on Wednesday died of a single gunshot wound to the neck, the state Medical Examiner's Office said on Friday.

Mike Harmon, known as Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram columnist M.D. Harmon to thousands of readers across the state, was fatally shot on Wednesday by an unnamed North Berwick teen who was handling one of Harmon's guns at the time of the shooting.

Harmon, 71, a longtime crusader for gun owners' rights, died at the scene.

The incident took place inside Harmon's Brunelle Street home in Sanford as he was showing the 16-year-old the firearm, police say. As the teen was handling the gun, it went off, killing the longtime columnist and editor.

Maine Department of Safety spokesman Steve McCausland told The Lebanon Voice on Friday that the teenager, and his father who was also in the house at the time of the shooting, were acquaintances of Harmon but not family members.

Now that the autopsy is complete, it is expected that the Attorney General's Office will soon determine whether any charges might be filed in the case.

Harmon, a conservative columnist at the liberal-leaning newspaper, had been a longtime defender of gun rights and had worked in various capacities at the newspaper for more than 40 years, retiring in 2011.

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