By David Harry

Staff Writer

A Cape Elizabeth man who was fatally shot May 31 fell victim because the alleged shooter was dancing and tossing his gun from hand to hand, according to court documents.

Andrew Holland, 23, was shot in a High Street apartment in Farmington he was visiting after he and two friends allegedly smoked marijuana and Ryan Ouimet began playing with a Bersa 383 handgun he owned, according to an affidavit filed by Maine State Police Detective Jeffrey Love.

Ouimet, 23, from Colts Neck, N.J., is charged with manslaughter in the shooting and free on $10,000 bail. He entered no plea June 8 at his initial appearance in Franklin County Superior Court. A dispositional conference involving prosecution and defense attorneys and Justice Michaela Murphy to discuss any possible plea agreement is scheduled for Aug. 19.

Murphy denied a request by Ouimet’s attorney, Michael Cuniff, to allow his client to return to New Jersey. Ouimet must stay in the Farmington area until a monitoring plan can be created to allow him go to New Jersey.

Ouimet told police he did not know the gun was loaded when it fired around 10:30 p.m. that night, according to Love.

Holland died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to autopsy results from the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. 

Love said Farmington police officers who responded to the distress call found Ouimet applying pressure to Holland’s wound. Holland was taken to Farmington Memorial Hospital where died early on June 1, the affidavit said.

When questioned by police, tenant Catherine Halloran, 23, said Holland arrived at her apartment sometime after 9 p.m. on May 31. About 30 minutes after Holland arrived, Ouimet took the gun from a drawer and he and Holland took turns loading and unloading it, Halloran said. Halloran told police Holland was sitting on the couch when Ouimet allegedly shot Holland. 

Ouimet told police the gun went off as he changed radio stations, Love said.

Holland, a 2006 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School, graduated from the University of Maine in Farmington with Ouimet last month. Halloran is a 2010 UMF graduate and the three worked together at a restaurant in Mount Vernon.