Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar

Aug 08, 2026

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK—Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to Seawall Campground in Acadia National Park at approximately 9 p.m., Wednesday night after a man allegedly threatened other campers.

According to witnesses, students from a Massachusetts-based university were setting up their campsite when a man they believed to be intoxicated allegedly told them that he was going to get his gun from his vehicle and kill them.

They called for help.

“On the evening of August 5, Acadia National Park law enforcement rangers responded to an incident at a campsite in Seawall Campground, which resulted in the arrest of an individual for disorderly conduct,” a representative from the National Park Service said two days later via email.

Law enforcement officers from Southwest Harbor Police Department, Acadia National Park, as well as the Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Departments responded to the campground from various locations throughout the island. Sgt. Graham of Southwest Harbor was the first officer on the scene.

At one point, officers requested a signal 1,000, which, in this area, restricts radio traffic to only priority calls. The signal 1,000 was cleared just before 10 p.m.

At approximately 9:40 p.m., law enforcement officers located the suspect—Damon Taney, 62, from Sandwich, MA—on the campground’s C loop. The man’s identity was confirmed late August 7 via email by the National Park Service.

By 10:09 p.m. on Wednesday, officers were bringing the suspect to Hancock County Jail. He was released from the jail to a federal officer, Thursday morning.

“Visitor safety is a priority for the National Park Service and Acadia National Park,” the NPS representative said.

Seawall Campground is open seasonally and on Mount Desert Island’s west side. It hosts 202 sites according to the National Park Service. The campground is off the Seawall Road in an area nestled between Bass Harbor and Southwest Harbor. It is one of two Acadia National Park run campgrounds on Mount Desert Island. The other is Blackwoods.

The incident came three days after an August 2 incident when a good samaritan had told the Southwest Harbor Police Department that he had stopped to ask a motorist if he needed any assistance and the motorist told him that he was a serial killer and was in town to take care of a Southwest Harbor resident.

Southwest Harbor Police Officer Eli Brown was able to locate the motorist, who was intoxicated, and confirmed that he was in fact in town to visit a family member and was not in town to murder someone.

The incidents are not related.

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