It's been one year since police found four people murdered in a Bowdoin home allegedly at the hands of one of the couple's own son.
Murder suspect Joseph Eaton’s parents, David and Cynthia Eaton, along with the Eaton's close friends, Bobby and Patti Eger, were found dead in the Eger's home.
The Egers had agreed to temporarily house Joseph Eaton after he had just gotten out of prison as a favor to their friends.
- Also read: Bowdoin quadruple murder suspect withdrawing insanity plea
The following morning, police arrested Joseph Eaton at Exit 15 in Yarmouth.
Maine State Police say he also admitted to firing at vehicles on I-295, the morning after the four murders, because he thought police were pursuing him.
Witnesses told CBS13 they saw Eaton and his car with the windshield shot out.
A brother and sister, both in their 20s, were hit by bullets fired at their car.
"It’s awful. It’s so weird to think that we were right behind them when this happened,” said Cassidy Voisine, who witnessed the shooting on I-295. “It could have been us. And there’s a baby in the back seat, too. So, this is crazy.”
“He was pointing the gun to shoot someone. He was not waving a pistol around in the air. He wasn’t doing anything you know to like distract me. He was trying to shoot me,” said Rose Clayton, a Colby College student.
The brother and sister shot and wounded on I-295 were with their dad. They'd left their home in Bowdoinham that morning to go shopping in Portland.
- Also read: Court documents reveal new details about quadruple murder in Bowdoin
Sean Halsey knows the bullets that hit his children came oh so close to taking their lives. He says his son saw the gunman right before he opened fire on them.
"My son was in the back seat. and he actually locked eyes with him as we were passing him. He was in the right-side lane. And we went by and he kind of swerved a little bit over, and I just kept on going and didn't think anything of it,” Sean said.
Sean was driving south on I-295 in Yarmouth, with his adult son and daughter, when he says a man in a car, they'd just passed started shooting at them.
"We went under the overpass just before Exit 15 and we just heard like popping. And it sounded to me like a tire was coming apart,” Sean said.
Seconds later, shots shattering his car windows. One bullet hit his son, Justin, in the back. Another tore through his daughter Paige’s aorta, lungs, liver and diaphragm.
- Also read: 'We're just doing the best we can:' Father provides update after family shot on I-295
"It was a matter of seconds and she had already, she slumped over up against me on the driver's side and was out,” Sean said.
As soon as he could no longer hear gunfire, Sean pulled over and he and his son both called 911.
His son got through to a dispatcher, as Sean tried stop his daughter's bleeding.
"It was terrible. Worst day of my life. Both of your kids are in trouble. And you can only help one at a time. And how do you reconcile that, you know,” Sean said.
Paige's condition was critical. Sean said they had no idea if she would survive.
"When we first got there, it looked pretty grim. You could tell that they were trying to be optimistic. But you could tell that it wasn't their true thoughts,” Sean said.
Paige and Justin both went in for surgeries at Maine Medical Center to remove bullet fragments and repair the damage.
In Paige’s case, doctors saved her life.
- Also read: Timeline: Bowdoin man accused of killing parents, parents' friends in shooting spree
"Sure enough, after her surgery and a couple days of intensive care, she was just coming back full throttle and being amazing,” Sean said.
A year later, Justin and Paige have nearly fully recovered.
"They are recovering amazingly well, physically, mentally, more than we could hope,” Sean said.
Justin and Paige decided not to talk with CBS13 because they want to put the shooting behind them.
"They're both as close to 100% as we can expect, I think. They're both back to work and doing everything they can to just live their lives as normally as possible,” Sean said.
Sean says seeing Joseph Eaton at his arraignment in West Bath was hard to stomach.
Eaton faces 27 charges in two counties, including four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder.
As a felon who had just gotten out of prison in Maine and moved in with his parents' best friends, Eaton was prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms.
What Sean can't understand is why he was allowed to go to a home where he had access to firearms.
"I don't understand the process of him being released into a home that had access to firearms. I know that's not how it's supposed to be. And I don't know how it happened. If it had been intervened before that happened, things may have been different,” Sean said.
- Also read: Bowdoin murder suspect had been released from prison four days before shootings
There is no law in Maine that prohibits a felon who is not allowed to possess or buy a firearm from moving into a home with guns.
However, there are renewed efforts to tighten state laws that are meant to keep guns out of the hands of those most likely to use them for harm.
Eaton has pleaded not guilty to the four murders and the trial in that case is expected to be sometime next year.
