By Lorain Daily Staff
A woman is in custody after police say she opened fire near a residential area in Lorain on Monday afternoon, triggering a school lockdown, a large-scale manhunt, and a citywide vehicle pursuit that ended in the parking lot of Lorain City Hall.
The incident began around 2:30 p.m. near 30th Street and Tressa Avenue, where multiple gunshots were reported. Responding officers recovered shell casings at the scene. A silver or gray van was seen fleeing the area, prompting police to issue a lookout alert.
Scanner traffic indicated that the suspect—a female identified by name but initially not located—was believed to be hiding in a residence on the 2700 block of Reeves Avenue. Lorain Police established a perimeter and attempted to make contact, but after clearing the home, discovered she was no longer inside.
Moments later, officers located the suspect’s vehicle near Jaeger Road, where a vehicle pursuit began. The chase wound through Lorain’s west side, heading northbound on Kolbe Road, then eastbound on West Erie Avenue, and continuing past Leavitt Road and Oberlin Avenue.
The pursuit came to a dramatic end in the parking lot of Lorain City Hall, where the suspect exited the vehicle while armed with a knife. Officers quickly surrounded her, and after a brief standoff, she reportedly threw the knife. She was taken into custody without further incident.
According to social media posts from local scanner pages, LifeCare EMS was staged nearby as a precaution, but no injuries were reported.
The shooting prompted a precautionary lockdown at a nearby school, reportedly due to the proximity of the gunfire to the Marshal Apartments, where many students were being dismissed at the time. Eyewitnesses reported seeing police stationed on nearly every corner in the area as the situation unfolded.
While the woman’s name has not been officially released, several community members identified her by first name in comment threads during the live updates. Police have not yet announced any formal charges or provided further information about a motive.
This is a developing story. Lorain Daily will continue to bring forth more information as it becomes available.