HOULTON, Maine — When Carl Lord Jr. first heard that his nephew, Anthony Lord, was allegedly involved in a violent shooting rampage that led to the death of two people and injuries to four others, he was shocked and devastated, even though he had never been close to the 35-year-old accused killer.
In fact, the Houlton resident said during an interview at his home Sunday, the last time he and his wife, Priscilla, actively saw Lord was during his childhood. The loss of contact was so great that when Anthony Lord’s 6-month-old son, Larry Earl Lord, died on May 7 and Carl and Priscilla Lord attended the boy’s funeral, “someone had to point Anthony out to us,” the couple said.
But it was to Carl Lord Jr.’s home on the North Road that Lord surrendered after an intense 18-hour manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies in northern Penobscot and southern Aroostook counties.
Lord, who has a long criminal history and is a lifetime registrant of the Maine Sex Offender Registry, was arrested 2:30 p.m. Friday at his uncle’s home by officers from Houlton Police Department and Maine State Police. Lord was charged with two counts of murder and kidnapping, and may face other charges, Maine State Police Lt. Sean Hashey said after his arrest.
On Sunday, Carl Lord Jr. said that he believes his nephew surrendered at his home because he saw his mother’s vehicle in the yard.
Lord said that he is also glad that he chose to surrender there.
“If he did it somewhere else, I don’t know if it would have turned out as well,” he added. “He came up to me and pointed the weapon up in the air, not at me or anyone. He pressed the button to eject the clip, took the bullets out and hugged his mom. Then he went back to his truck and handed me the knife that he was carrying and left to go smoke a cigarette. I checked the truck, too, to make sure there were no other weapons in there. Throughout his entire time here, he never spoke a word to me.”
Lord said that the family is “devastated” for the victims and for the others affected by the tragedy. He also said he was angered by some of the news reports saying that his nephew had come inside his home, been tackled by law enforcement or that “people living in Houlton should sort of expect this, because anything can happen living in Houlton.’”
“That really upset me,” he said. “You know, this is something that we did not ask for, just like the victims. This crime came to us.”
Carl Lord Jr. said Sunday that he could not speculate on a motive for the crime.
“Something made him go off the deep end,” he said. “I just don’t know what.”
