BANGOR — Police rerouted the Bangor Fourth of July Parade as they responded to multiple gunshots fired during a standoff with an armed man, then handled a fatal accident on the changed route as an old fire truck slammed into a tractor, killing the tractor’s driver.

Things started when police evacuated an apartment building about 9 a.m. Thursday. Sgt. Paul Edwards put out an alert asking parade spectators to stay out of the downtown area because police were dealing with “a despondent person” who had a firearm.

“They told us that somebody in apartment one has a gun and that we all needed to get out fast. So it was pretty scary,” Courtney Raymond, who lives in the building on Park Street, told WABI-TV.

Police cleared the streets and surrounded the building. They said a man fired about 70 rounds out of a window. It wasn’t immediately known if anyone was hurt.

A man was taken into custody late Thursday morning. No further information on him was released.
The parade, which started from Brewer, got underway and was rerouted in Bangor.

But on Water Street, not far from where the standoff happened, a tractor was hit from behind by the firetruck. Edwards said the driver of the tractor was killed.

The parade had been rerouted to that street.