BILLERICA, MASS. (WHDH) - A tense standoff ended peacefully Wednesday after someone fired a gun at a house party in Billerica.
Police officers and heavily armed members of a SWAT team swarmed Harvard Road after Kevin Almeida’s wife reported hearing gunshots Wednesday morning.
“She was on the deck letting the dog out and she heard some guys out back toward the woods saying are you going to fire it are you going to fire it,” he said. “And then she heard a gunshot go off.”
Almeida was at work when his wife sent him a text describing what she had heard.
“I said are you sure it’s a gun?… She said yes… I said call 911 and get to the other side of the house.”
Police were called to the home and investigators said there were at least two people inside that were believed to be armed.
Negotiators spent hours trying to reason with the people inside — while nervous neighbors looked on.
“The SWAT team kept on using their megaphone and asking please come to the door,” neighbor John Santoro said.
Denise Kelley said, “we’ve never had anything on this street, nothing, in 30 years.”
The two people inside the home eventually surrendered peacefully to police.
“This was really a textbook way addressing what could have been a very volatile situation with weapons,” Deputy Chief Roy Frost said.
Neighbors said that all this commotion started after a house party that was held Tuesday night.
Police also responded to a serious car crash that was related to the party.
“The Mustang took off, went down here did a U-turn went back and smashed into the telephone pole,” Almeida explained.
Deputy Frost said, “this is a separate incident involving the same house and obviously individuals that were likely at that party.”
Many who live on the street said they are thankful no one was hurt during the standoff.
“We have a 2-year-old daughter and my mother lives downstairs so it was scary,” Almeida said. “Thankfully I only work 15 minutes away so that I could get back here but that drive and thinking about her saying she heard gunshots — it was something.”
So far, police have not released any information regarding potential charges related to the incident.
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