Andover police say they found two spent shells and what appears to be a laser gun sight but called off a search for four suspects around 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
Police searched an area extending from Pomps Pond to Ballardvale after breaking up a “large underage party” of 70 to 100 people around 9 p.m. Wednesday. The party had started in an Abbot Street house that was heavily damaged before the party moved into the woods.
More coverage on Andover News: Read police scanner transcripts from Wednesday’s search.
Police received a report of gunshots from a resident around 9:30 p.m., according to scanner transmissions, and a witness who had been at the party and called police when he got lost in the woods confirmed he had heard the shots as well. There were no injuries, and police told the Andover Townsman they do not believe the two incidents were related.
“They didn’t really find anybody,” Andover Police Lt. Edward Guy told the newspaper. Guy did not respond to requests for comment from Andover News, which first reported this story Thursday morning.
Massachusetts State Police, as well as police from North Reading and Wilmington, assisted in the search, which involved ATVs, K9 units, and a helicopter. The Town activated its reverse 911 notification system and sent text messages and placed automated phone calls asking residents “who see anything unusual” to call 911.
“According to this gentleman, it sounds like the suspects, at least one of them, are four black males,” an officer involved in the search said on the radio scanner around 9:30 p.m Wednesday. “One of them with a ski mask on. and they took off.”
File photo.