People in Wakefield and Reading had to shelter in place for hours Saturday morning as police searched for armed men.
Parts of Wakefield and Reading were under a shelter-in-place order as police dealt with an armed standoff with a group of heavily-armed men off Interstate 95 on Saturday morning.
The situation was resolved around 10:30 a.m., with all nine people involved taken into police custody and the shelter in place orders lifted for both communities.
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Stoneham did not have a shelter-in-place order in effect, but was affected as well.
Here's how residents of the three communities were impacted:
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Wakefield
Areas advised to shelter in place on Saturday morning included the Parker Road, Elm Street and North Avenue area in Wakefield.
"We have a significant perimeter area set up that involves North Avenue, Parker Road and Elm Street," Wakefield Police Chief Steven Skory said at a media briefing. "There are many police officers out there. We have put out a reverse 911 call asking the residents who live in a particular area, asking them to stay inside. I know there is some concern where it's a holiday weekend, are people allowed to leave the town of Wakefield? They are."
"We just ask that they avoid that particular area. There should be some concern, I'm assuming by business owners, whether they can open. They can open as well as long as they're not again in that North Avenue area. So we will assist the state police as long as we have to, we'll keep those roads closed, and until this incident is over, you will see us out there."
Reading
Areas advised to shelter in place included the Parker Road and Ash Street areas.
"Certain roads and town have been impacted. With the highway being closed we have extra staff that we brought in to help make sure traffic's moving smoothly," Reading Police Chief David Clark said. "We did send out a Code Red asking the residents in the area of Ash Street, Park Road on the Wakefield side to shelter in place. Everybody else is free to move about, we just ask you avoid the area of Walker Brook Drive as much as possible and understand that there is going to be some significant delays in traffic and traffic impact in the town. I can assure the residents that we're keeping everybody safe, we have extra assets on in town. We'll keep you updated with the situation as it goes."
Stoneham
No areas of Stoneham were asked to shelter in place, but the on and off ramps to I-95 in Stoneham were impacted for a time. Residents were advised to use caution and avoid areas of town near I-95.
"Since early this morning, officers from the Stoneham Police Department have been assisting the Wakefield police, the state police, with this incident," Stoneham Police Chief James McIntyre said. "It is not impacting Stoneham except for the on and off ramps to 95 or 128. So there's currently no shelter in place for Stoneham. Residents are free to go about their business and enjoy the holiday weekend."
