Drunk Neighbor Opens Fire On Jewish Summer Camp Kids

A Jewish summer camp has turned into a nightmare after a drunk man opened fire on their basketball court where kids as young as seven were playing. Pascal Cohen owns Camp Modin in Belgrade, Maine, and he filed an urgent complaint against his neighbor Nathan Hewett. The 36-year-old man allegedly pelted the courts with bullets during a rampage on August 7 while under the influence. Court documents seen by Central Maine say this hail of shots triggered a full lockdown across the grounds. Children had to run for cover in absolute terror. Cohen claims Hewett fired roughly twenty rounds from a semi-automatic rifle after clashing with security guards. This violent outburst was just the latest chapter in months of belligerent behavior directed at the camp. Pascal says Hewett intentionally distressed everyone by blaring lights from his truck, setting off late-night fireworks, and shooting guns toward their property. Timothy Black is a security guard who backs Cohen's complaint. He wrote that Hewett gets especially hostile when intoxicated. The man harasses them by screaming at them while standing right at the property line. During the August 7 incident, Hewett fired his rifle near the camp which held at least four hundred campers and employees inside. Nathan Hewett has now been charged with reckless conduct involving a firearm, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, and discharging a gun near a dwelling. Nobody was injured in this ordeal, but the situation forced the entire facility into lockdown while guards donned body armor and grabbed their weapons. Bullet casings were actually found inside the basketball courts by law enforcement. Joshua Ewing is one of the security guards on shift that evening. He stated in court documents seeking the protection order that Hewett and his father Raymond approached Camp Modin to yell and ask to speak with an employee.

Pascal Cohen, who owns Camp Modin in Belgrade, Maine, has filed a formal complaint against his neighbor Nathan Hewett, a thirty-six-year-old man accused of turning peaceful grounds into a battlefield during a drunken rampage on August 7. The incident began when the younger Hewett allegedly struck something with a tractor lawn mower, damaging property and immediately shifting blame toward the camp.

Tensions escalated quickly after Calvin Black and his colleague, Ewing, tried to calm down the older Hewett. Raymond claimed his son was dangerous in their view. Nathan became extremely enraged and irrational instead of listening. He started yelling and swearing at them without stopping. The situation turned violent moments later when security guards heard gunfire from a high-powered rifle echoing off the camp property.

Officials placed the entire facility into lockdown while Kennebec County Sheriff deputies rushed to the scene to detain Nathan Hewett. He faced four specific charges: reckless conduct with a firearm, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, and discharging a firearm near a dwelling. Police seized twenty-three guns from his property following that August 7 ordeal. Many of those weapons were semi-automatic.

Hewett was initially held on bail set at fifty thousand dollars before he was released. That release prompted the camp to push hard for a protection order. Under current conditions, Nathan is banned from being within one thousand feet of the camp. He cannot access dangerous weapons or drink alcohol. Camp Modin officials also want to temporarily prevent him from having any contact with their employees.

The complaint reveals that Calvin Black stated Hewett had made threats against the camp before this latest explosion of violence. The allegedly aggressive neighbor once complained about noise levels at the facility, only to retort that he has things on his property that are really loud too. Deputy Tyler Johnson wrote in an affidavit for probable cause that he suspected Hewett held anti-Semitic bias and was drunk on the night everything went wrong.

Now Nathan will appear in court for a hearing on the protection order on August 31. He must also respond to the charges on November 10. The community waits to see if these measures will bring lasting peace or merely delay the next confrontation between neighbors at odds.