On a tragic afternoon in Belfast, Maine, the life of 73-year-old William W. Blazo, a local trucking company owner, was cut short in a shocking act of violence. On September 8, 1933, a man named Adrian F. Jones, a 66-year-old former farmhand, embarked on a shooting spree through the city streets, armed with a shotgun, a rifle, and two revolvers. Jones's rampage was fueled by long-held grudges and apparent mental instability.
Shortly before one o'clock, Jones began his deadly assault.
After killing his first victim on the corner of High and Main streets, he proceeded towards Washington Street. In front of the Blazo Trucking Company office, he opened fire on a group of men engaged in conversation. Among them were William W. Blazo, his 37-year-old son Raymond Blazo, and a 57-year-old veterinarian, Reginald B. Stanhope, whose office was located above Blazo's.
The shots were devastating. Raymond Blazo was struck twice in the chest and died almost instantly. William W. Blazo sustained mortal wounds to his arm, chest, and abdomen. Another man in the doorway managed to escape unharmed. The violence continued as Jones fired at a man on a wagon, missing the man but hitting one of his horses. Following the shootings, Jones barricaded himself inside a nearby blacksmith shop.
Law enforcement officers and armed volunteers quickly surrounded the building. Before they could apprehend him, Adrian F. Jones took his own life with a revolver. The motive for his violent actions appeared to be rooted in personal animosity. It was reported that Jones held a grudge against one of his other victims for as long as two decades and had expressed a desire to see the Blazo Trucking Company eliminated for reasons that were not publicly disclosed. The day of the shooting, his landlady noted he had been more irritable than usual, following a restless night of incoherent rambling.
