Hours after gunshots were fired on Court St. in Athens early Sunday morning, police have found the weapon they believe was shot into the air but still have made no arrests.
After an "exhaustive search" of Hudson Health Center, police found a handgun they believe was fired into the air around 2 a.m. during the annual Halloween block party, said Tom Pyle, Athens' police chief, in a statement.
Officers witnessed the shooting and say it was a man who fired three shots into the air.
"We are safe," Ron Lucas, Athens' deputy service safety director, told The Post early Sunday morning. He called police movements an "active investigation" and couldn't say how the shooting would affect future Halloween block parties.
Ohio University's Police Department was searching Hudson, Seigfred Hall and surrounding buildings around 4 a.m. on Sunday "as a precaution," according to a tweet OUPD sent.
Brian Kapple, an Ohio University Police Department captain, told The Post "you cannot be anywhere near the premises." Seigfred is located near Hudson Health Center and the top of Jeff Hill on North Green.
OUPD also stopped a car on Milliron St. early on Sunday and were questioning people. It was unclear if that had anything to do with the shooting.
Three gunshots were fired at 2:05 a.m. as the Halloween block party in Athens wound to a close, according to city officials.
Tom Pyle, Athens' police chief, said two shell casings were found on S. Court St. between W. Union and Washington Streets early Sunday morning. He said three shots were fired, in total.
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Multiple people were arrested immediately after the shots were fired, though how many people were arrested and why they were arrested was not immediately clear. None of those arrested were the alleged shooter, Pyle said.
The area that was temporarily blocked off by police was near College Green on S. Court St.
The gunshots came as the result of a fist fight, Pyle said. Officers were involved in breaking up the fist fight and were on the scene immediately after shots were fired into the air, he said.
About an hour after a portion of S. Court St. was closed to pedestrians during the Halloween block party, the street reopened shortly after 3 a.m.
"There's some evidence we need to process," Pyle said as to why the street was closed.
Rick Callebs, chief of Athens County Emergency Medical Services, said to his knowledge, no one was injured in the shooting and none of his units responded.
"We weren't notified of anything," he said.
Throughout the night, witnesses weighed on the Halloween incident.
"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. ... Then we see an officer running by with a gun," said Robbie Miller, 21, of Cincinnati.
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While part of S. Court St. was blocked off, students crawled under a fence to get into an apartment complex to get around police.
Byron Ingraham, an independent security guard working for an apartment complex on S. Court St., 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.
Ryan Lombardi, OU's vice president for Student Affairs, tweeted early Sunday morning, "Not a good way to end the night."
Around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Lucas released a statement saying the Athens Police Department made 40 arrests related to the block party, including one for felony trafficking.
OUPD made 24 arrests related to the block party, according to Lucas' statement.
No further details about the shooting were offered in the 4:30 a.m. statement.
dd195710@ohio.edu
@WillDrabold
— Sam Howard contributed to this article.
