A neighbor accused of firing shots near a Jewish summer camp in Maine has been released on bail and is now allegedly harassing staff alongside his father.
Nathan Hewett, 36, allegedly fired several rounds from a rifle near Camp Modin in Belgrade, Maine, on Aug. 7, sending children as young as 7 into lockdown and forcing security guards to don ballistic vests and arm themselves, according to court documents and camp owner Pascal Cohen. Hewett was arrested following the incident but has since been released on bail, and the harassment has continued, camp officials told the court.
“He harasses us by coming to the property line and screaming at us,” security guard Timothy Black wrote in a letter to the Capital Judicial Center.
“Especially when he is intoxicated,” Black continued in his letter to the judicial center.
Cohen told Central Maine that Hewett has long been a problem at the camp, which sits in the lakes region of central Maine. The Aug. 7 shooting appeared to be directed toward the basketball courts on the camp grounds, according to court documents cited by the New York Post.
The camp, which serves Jewish children, went into immediate lockdown as the shots rang out. Security guards put on ballistic vests and armed themselves to protect the children during the incident, according to the filings.
In the viral moment that drew national attention to the rural Maine camp, Hewett allegedly fired several rounds from a rifle near the property, triggering the emergency response. The incident was being investigated as an antisemitic attack, according to the court documents. Children as young as 7 were among those placed in lockdown during the shooting.
Hewett’s release on bail has not ended the tensions, according to Black’s letter. The security guard alleged that Hewett and his father have continued to target camp employees with harassment since the arrest, approaching the property line to scream at staff members.