The Portland Police Department said multiple people were shot on Forest Avenue on Tuesday night and at least three people were taken to the hospital.
Multiple witnesses in the area say they heard lots of loud bangs around 8:45 p.m. Two witnesses said they heard as many as seven gunshots.
At this point, police are not able to give an exact number of people shot, but said at least three people were transported to the hospital. Their conditions are currently unknown.
There is a large police presence on Forest Avenue. The roads are blocked off from Bell Street to Morrills Corner.
Police urged drivers to take Stevens Avenue to get around the closed road. Commuters may also want to consider Washington or Brighton Avenue.
No arrests have been made.
“Yeah, I would probably shelter in place in the immediate area,” Portland Police Maj. Robert Martin said. “We’ve got several police here, including some out of town agencies, so I think we’re fairly safe in the immediate area. I don’t know if someone fled on foot; they could be somewhere out there making their way through neighborhoods right now, so I would just use a high-level of caution.”
Martin said people in the area should shelter-in-place as the suspect ran away on foot.
Nearby Samuel’s Bar and Grill posted on Facebook that its employees and customers were all safe.
“Everything was peaceful and then everyone in the bar heard this rat tat tat. What a person would think was fireworks and then, you know, we went about our business and was like what was that. And then all of the sudden police was investigating the area so we had to leave,” said Adam Hardwick, who heard gunshots.
Vehicles are being asked to avoid this area of Forest Avenue as police collect evidence on the scene. Officers say that they don’t expect to have an update until Wednesday morning.
