A gunfight between the occupants of two vehicles resulted in a shelter-in-place order being in place for downtown Saco, Maine, on Friday evening. One of the vehicles then careened through an intersection and collided with a school bus carrying children while police searched for at least four suspects.
The incident started just before noon, and schools around the city were momentarily placed under lockdown. A spokesman for the city, Emily Roy, stated that none of the kids on the bus were injured.
Police cleared locations where reports of probable suspect sightings had been made as they searched. Authorities added that the search included the use of tactical units, police dogs, drones, and local and regional police agencies.
An officer who was speaking for the police called the probe “an ongoing, fluid situation.” Four persons fled from one of the automobiles involved in the collision, according to the police, and one of them looked like she had been shot. They claimed to have found a gun inside one of the overturned cars.
According to municipal spokesperson Andrew Dickinson, there were initial allegations of bullets being exchanged between occupants of two different automobiles. According to Dickinson, the cars then headed toward the busy intersection where the collision with the school bus had happened. While the suspects from the second car, an SUV, exited and fled, a red Dodge Charger drove off.
As part of a significant police presence in downtown Saco, the U.S. Marshals Service in Portland, Maine, verified that it was on the scene assisting the Saco Police Department.
The school close downtown, Thornton Academy, said in a statement on Friday afternoon that it was under “full lockdown” and that “students remain safe” as authorities kept an eye on the situation. Later, the students were let out.
The school sent a statement saying, “Students who drove to school have been dismissed.” “We’re working on a plan to release parents’ picked-up children and walkers.”
Three months prior, during a police manhunt for a shooter who killed eighteen people at a pub and bowling alley, many inhabitants of Maine sought safety in their homes.
