A masked man brandished a gun at a U.S. mail carrier Tuesday morning and fled, later escaping police, officials said.
He remains at large, and the subject of a large search involving a SWAT team, police dogs and drones, according to Tewksbury police. A gun, believed to be the man's, has been found.
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The letter carrier was not robbed or hurt, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is helping to investigate the incident.
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The person being sought, believed to be in his late teens or early 20s, was wearing a mask and a dark-colored sweatshirt, according to Tewksbury police, who shared alerts in the area amid their dragnet.
The incident began at the corner of Main and Shawsheen streets about 11:04 a.m., according to Tewksbury police and the Postal Inspection Service. The letter carrier noticed someone pull up to their vehicle and pull what appeared to be a gun at them. They were able to drive away safely.
Soon afterward, officers spotted a speeding vehicle on Whipple Road, but the driver bailed out when it reached the area of Tomahawk Drive, police said.
Groups of armed police officers and K-9 units were seen searching street by street. The gun was found behind a home on Grasshopper Lane, police said, and the search included Nightengale Lane, where a resident said they spotted the man.
"We have deployed every asset at our disposal to find this individual, including a door to door search in the area he was last seen," Police Chief Ryan Columbus said in a statement. "However he has not been located at this time. The suspect's motives are part of an ongoing investigation."
Police initially called the incident a case of road rage, but they later said that's no longer believed to be the case.
In a reverse 911 message to Tewksbury residents Tuesday evening, police said the man may have left the area in a rideshare. The search for him is ongoing.
