WATERVILLE, Maine—A man who shot himself in the parking lot of Benton Elementary School Dec. 18 had abducted a teenage girl earlier that day and raped her at gunpoint, according to police.
Anthony Harding told the victim he had been contemplating suicide for some time, but didn’t think he could go through with it unless he committed a heinous crime. Harding took the girl to a storage unit that had been stocked with enough supplies for three to four days, Centralmaine.com reports.
After the attack, Harding, 41, left the girl alone and she was able to escape. Police received a call from a woman who took the girl to the emergency room, and launched an investigation. Twenty minutes later, Harding committed suicide at the school.
Police believe Harding may have randomly chosen Benton Elementary as the location of his suicide.
