PORTLAND — Police say two people fired guns in the sixth-floor hallway of the Lafayette Square apartments on Congress Street around 2 p.m. Friday but no one was injured.
The gunmen escaped before police arrived.
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Police say the two fired multiple shots, though they would not say the two were shooting at each other. Police were still searching for the people Friday night.
Cmdr. Gary Rogers said late Friday that it was too early in the investigation to say whether either person is a resident of the building at 638 Congress St.
After the shots were fired, officers were posted at the corners of the apartment building, keeping watch in case anyone tried to sneak out.
One officer kept watch on the parking lot in the back of the building while another checked inside and under cars there.
Residents were told to stay inside their apartments, while people outside the building were forbidden from entering. Police allowed people to move freely in the building after about 2½ hours.
Mark Ohlson, who lives on the sixth floor of the building, said he got a call from police asking for permission to enter his apartment because one of the gunshots had entered his unit. He said he was not at home at the time.
He said he has lived in the building for only two weeks.
Paul Bronson, a resident of Lafayette Square, said he saw police outside the seven-story building and left his apartment to have a look.
“There were cops on every landing with automatic weapons,” he said. “They patted me down and let me go.”
Amanda Edward, a criminal-justice major at Kaplan University, said she was walking along Congress Street, headed for a job interview, when police pulled up.
“Two cars pulled up and then another two pulled up, and there were, like, eight officers,” she said. She did not hear any shots.
“It’s just sad,” she said. “There are kids running around in there.”
Joseph Sandor, a resident of the building, said he was upset by the reports.
“It’s quite amazing,” he said after being told about the gunshots. “It’s very disturbing.”
David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
dhench@pressherald.com
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