Suspect in police manhunt now in custody, police say: Saks MHP shelter order lifted

A State Police officer directs traffic where a detour had been set up during the manhunt for a suspect who fired upon police early this morning. (The Rochester Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - A suspect is in custody after an hours-long manhunt following the attempted shooting of a Rochester police officer early this morning.

Details of the suspect's capture weren't immediately available, but the area of the search was in the woods of Rochester and Lebanon, Maine in the area of the Saks Mobile Home Park.

Residents of the park had been told to shelter in place, but that order was lifted within the last hour.

Police are still present in the area as they process the scene. It wasn't immediately clear if all of the road detours had been lifted, but they will likely be opened soon.

Scores of law enforcement officers from New Hampshire and Maine gathered through the early morning hours to search for the shooting suspect, who fled into woods after he pulled over by Rochester Police around 1:50 a.m. today.

Officers early on established a perimeter and began to tighten it throughout the incident before detonating flash bang devices in an effort to flush the suspect out about an hour ago.

The incident began this morning as an officer tried to pull the suspect over on Milton Road near Saks. The suspect refused to stop and pulled into Periwinkle drive before firing a number of shots at the officer.

This morning prior to the capture several Maine State Police cruisers were observed on River Road in Lebanon as lawmen believe he may have traversed the Salmon Falls River into Maine.

A Maine State Trooper told The Rochester Voice that that area of River Road "was not a safe place to be" this morning.

Meanwhile, Rochester and New Hampshire State Police set up a command center in the parking lot of Stonewall Kitchen on Milton Road. Safety officials at the scene said they would have no comment at this time.

Police have not identified the suspect, nor the circumstances behind the attempted traffic stop earlier today.

Much of the area had been blocked off to thru-traffic, with barricades set up at the corner of Milton and Betts roads and heading north on Milton Road beyond the intersection of Milton and Salmon Falls roads.

Traffic on River Road in Lebanon, however, is still allowed as of this posting.

This story will be updated.