Police had one person in custody and were seeking another Monday after a shooting that critically wounded a police officer.
Heavily armed SWAT teams from state and city police cordoned off and searched a wide area for Michael "Stix" Addison, 26, who was considered armed and dangerous. Police dogs and a helicopter helped in the search as schools in the area locked their doors and locked pupils in classrooms with their teachers.
"They are doing a yard-to-yard search," police Capt. Richard Tracy said.
Few details about the shooting were released, but police said the officer was taken to Elliot Hospital after being shot near the intersection of Lake and Lincoln Streets. A spokeswoman for the hospital said Officer Michael Briggs was in critical condition.
An officer who was stopping drivers in the neighborhood and searching their vehicles said one person was already in custody. The officer would not give his name.
A man who lives about a block away on Spruce Street said he and his wife heard six shots around 3 a.m. Monday, followed by yelling and arguing.
"We heard six loud bangs go off," said Robert Tarr, who was on his back porch taking in laundry from the line when he heard the shots. He said he quickly called police.
His wife, Pauline, was inside, sitting at her computer desk when the shots rang out.
"It took me right off my chair," she said, saying she was worried about the safety of their four children.
Other neighborhood residents said they heard seven, eight or even 10 shots.
Nicole Black, 24, who was staying at her boyfriend's place nearby, told the Union Leader newspaper that after the shots woke her, she grabbed binoculars and looked outside.
"The first thing I saw was that cop lying down right there where the pool of blood was," Black said. "There were maybe five cops around him. One was saying, 'Just breathe, just breathe.' You could tell they were trying to get this guy to hold on."
Black also saw a man lying on the ground, handcuffed, she said.
"I heard him say something about, 'I was just standing on this corner trying to get weed for my girl,'" Black said.
An area covering about 40 city blocks was cordoned off before dawn. As residents began leaving for work and school, officers diverted traffic around the area and searched the car trunks of those leaving for work or school.
Schools locked down included Central High, Hillside Middle School and several elementary schools, assistant school Superintendent Karen Burkush told WMUR-TV. She said entrances to some other schools were locked and being monitored, but pupils were not confined to their classrooms.
Tarr, a member of a neighborhood watch group working with police to combat prostitution and drug dealing, said things had been getting better — until now.
"Now we're back to square one again. It's going to make people really on edge," he said.