‘Tried to do everything I could to help my kids’: Man shot on Yarmouth highway says family is recovering

PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) - The three people who were shot on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth are continuing to recover.

Sean Halsey, who was shot along with his children Justin and Paige, provided an update on Friday.

Halsey spoke with his right hand wrapped in a bandage and said he was treated for a broken finger. He thanked all the first responders and all the medical staff at Maine Medical Center “who basically saved my kids’ lives.”

He said his son, Justin, was shot in the back and has some significant tissue damage to his back but was released from the hospital a few days ago. Halsey said his son likely faces a recovery of several months.

Halsey said his daughter, Paige, was shot a single time in the lower side and back but that the bullet “bounced around inside her” and caused a lot of internal damage.

She remains in the hospital, but her final chest tube was removed on Friday, and Halsey said she is now in a regular medical ward. She had been in intensive care. Her condition was upgraded to stable. Halsey said he hopes she will continue to progress quickly and be able to go home soon. He did say she has “a long road ahead of her” but is returning to her normal self and making jokes.

Halsey, who got choked up at times, said he was “glad that we’re here to be able to talk to you.”

Halsey did talk about what happened on April 18 when he and his children were shot. He said he was driving with Paige in the passenger’s seat and Justin in the backseat when they started hearing some pops, “and then the back window exploded.”

He said they didn’t see anyone and had no idea what was going on. Halsey said he sped up to get away from what was happening and then “pulled the car over and tried to do everything I could to help my kids.”

Adding to the stress on his family, Sean’s father died this week.

Halsey thanked the community for their support and said, “this is what Bowdoinham does,” rallying around each other.

The family does have mounting medical and missed work expenses. A GoFundMe page is helping raise money for them. As of Friday morning, it had raised more than $11,000.

Halsey said he had never heard of the man who is accused of shooting him and his family until after his arrest.

Joseph Eaton is accused of killing four people, including his parents, inside a home in Bowdoin the day before shooting at vehicles on I295, hitting four of them and wounding the Halseys.