Police Respond To Report of Hostage Taking, Pipe Bomb
Responding to a call reporting a potential hostage-taking situation in progress at 164 Main Street, with one person reported to have harmed another, Groton Police quickly cordoned off a short section of Main Street from Town Hall to the mouth of Route 40 shortly before 2:00 pm on Monday afternoon with the goal of isolating the apparent site of the incident.
Although the location of the alleged hostage situation was not mentioned in the official press release, staff of the Groton Herald located at 161 Main Street observed several police officers wearing body armor and wielding assault-style rifles, surrounding the residence at 164 Main Street. Watching from their second-floor office perch overlooking Main Street, Herald staff saw a police officer crouched behind a cruiser parked in the middle of the street opposite the residence, as well as other officers in combat-style gear behind trees and a stone wall around the home. Shortly thereafter, they witnessed the wife of the home exiting the residence while police moved to the back of the property, surrounding a barn where the husband was reported to be working.
Asked later about the incident, the woman responded that she had been working in an upstairs office, saying that her first inkling of a problem was seeing police officers with automatic weapons in her side yard. She then called her husband in the barn at the back of the property with him assuring her he was fine, but surprised by his wife's call and unnerved to see armed officers outside the barn window.
Police then conducted an extensive search of the area outside the property at 164 Main Street, accompanied by a bomb-sniffing dog, gradually increasing the range of their perimeter search to include the whole cordoned off Main Street area.
According to a press release issued by the Groton Police Department, while the perimiter search was in progress, 'a second call was received indicating the possibility of explosives at a location near the site of the reported hostage-taking.' The location identified in the second call was 161 Main Street, home of Main Street Café, The Groton Herald and Exit Realty.
Arriving at the Groton Herald, police said a 'pipe bomb' was rumored to have been placed somewhere in the edifice. Groton police officers then entered each of the three businesses, ordering the occupants to 'take nothing' and 'immediatly evacuate' all three offices. After a thorough search of the building, with the help of a bomb-sniffing dog, 'the area was determined to be safe' and employees were allowed to return to their businesses.
Units from Ayer, Dunstable, Pepperell and Littleton Police Departments, as well as State Troopers from the Leominster barracks and the Bomb Squad supported Groton Police. In his press release, Chief Palma noted that, "During the incident the Police Command was in constant communications with the Groton Fire Department and Groton-Dunstable Regional School District and at no time were the schools in danger, however precautions were put in place." Chief noted the seriousness of this incident saying that there is an on-going criminal investigation.
