AMHERST — A police investigation into a report of a possibly armed individual in the area of East Pleasant Street north of Eastman Lane, which prompted a warning for people to stay away from the area Monday afternoon, eventually determined there was no threat to public safety.
The University of Massachusetts around 4 p.m. issued a warning via its social media channels advising people to keep their distance from the location. At around 5:15 p.m., UMass and Amherst Police identified and located the person, and stated there was no risk to the public.
“A pellet gun was recovered and the appropriate enforcement action is being assessed,” UMass Police reported on their Facebook page.
UMass Police posted a photo of a person taken at 2:30 p.m. with what appeared to be a gun with a long barrel sitting on a bench in the field at the Arthur F. Kinney Center for Renaissance Studies at 650 East Pleasant, near the Sylvan residential complex off Eastman Lane.
Police described the individual as appearing to be a light-skinned male, with a stocky and strong build, wearing a red-hooded sweatshirt and dark gray sweatpants and white high top sneakers,
A Twitter post then stated that both Amherst and UMass police searched the wooded area near Sylvan.
— SCOTT MERZBACH