The shots fired on Saturday caused no injuries, no arrests have been made
Security at Athens’ annual Halloween Block Party, which typically draws thousands of out-of-town visitors, might be changed after gunshots were fired during the event this weekend.
The shots, which officials said injured no one, led police to crackdown on partygoers as the Block Party wound to a close around 2 a.m. Officers combed Athens and Ohio University’s campus well into the early hours of Sunday morning looking for clues.
The shooter has not been arrested, but a handgun believed to have been used was found.
“We were just chilling outside of Voigt Hall (on North Green) when I see a guy running ... thinking nothing of it. It’s OU Halloween weekend,” Robbie Miller, 21, of Cincinnati, said. “Then we see an officer running by with a gun.”
Here’s a breakdown of what happened Sunday morning in Athens:
2:05 a.m.
Three gunshots were fired into the air from a handgun on South Court Street between West Union and Washington streets, according to Athens city officials.
Partygoers — who moments before were enjoying the end of the 40th annual Halloween Block Party — started yelling and running away from the area near The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St.
About 20 police horses converged on the area, along with numerous uniformed officers on foot, and appeared to question or arrest multiple people. The shots were fired into the air during a fist fight, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said.
Byron Ingraham, an independent security guard working at an apartment complex on South Court Street, said he saw a man shoot a silver handgun up in the air.
“That’s what I saw ... right directly in the middle of the road,” he said.
Minutes after the shooting occurred, partygoers started chanting “USA! USA! USA!” as police swarmed the area.
2:23 a.m.
Police start to block off a portion of Court Street with police tape and officers on horseback.
Officers found three shell casings on the road. Addresses between 20 and 38 S. Court St., which includes residences and restaurants, were blocked to all pedestrian traffic for less than an hour.
“We were like, ‘How do we get home?’” said Jenna Carnato, a senior studying restaurant, hotel and tourism management, as she climbed under a fence to get into the rear parking garage of their 36 S. Court St. apartment complex. “We just had to f--cking climb under shards of metal.”
2:28 a.m.
OU Police Chief Andrew Powers told The Post his department was “investigating an incident that occurred Uptown.” Three OUPD cars blocked all traffic on the Richland Bridge to and from Uptown Athens.
2:50 a.m.
Pyle told The Post “there’s some evidence we need to process,” including the shell casings found on Court Street, and that he didn’t know when the street would be reopened.
Rick Callebs, chief of Athens County Emergency Medical Services, said none of his units responded to the incident.
“We weren’t notified of anything,” he said.
3:03 a.m.
Officials reopened Court Street to pedestrians and released their first official statement on the shooting.
“Gunshots were fired on Court St. between W. Union and Washington at approximately 2:05 AM,” Ron Lucas, Athens’ deputy service safety director, said in a statement. “No injuries have been reported at this time as a result of this incident and it is under investigation. A separate media report will be made available regarding this incident. A point of contact will be identified as the investigation progresses.”
3:37 a.m.
Ryan Lombardi, OU’s vice president for Student Affairs, tweeted the shooting was “not a good way to end the night.”
The university did not issue a statement separate from the city’s on the incident.
3:50 a.m.
OUPD tweeted officers are “searching Seigfred (Hall) and the area nearby as a precaution.” About a dozen police officers were in the parking lot between the Hudson Health Center and Glidden Hall at the top of Jeff Hill. Police started searching with flashlights.
During the police search, students were walking up and down the Seigfred steps that run up the hill between Glidden and Seigfred halls.
Police subsequently found a weapon believed to have been used in the shooting near Hudson.
4:20 a.m.
Lucas, while sitting in the conference room in the Athens city building, reassured The Post and others “we’re safe” more than two hours after the shots were fired on Court Street.
He called the situation an active investigation and that the city was working in tandem with OU to solve the crime.
5:01 a.m.
Pyle announced police found the weapon in a release. He added multiple witnesses had been interviewed and an investigation was ongoing. APD interviewed several persons of interest, and Pyle said his department did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the public, as the gunshots appeared to be tied to an isolated incident related to a fight on Court Street.
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