Massachusetts

Police Capture Woman Who Allegedly Threatened to ‘Shoot a Random Person' in Massachusetts

Police in Massachusetts have apprehended a woman who allegedly made threats over social media to shoot a person at random.

Authorities had asked the public to look out for a gray Jeep Cherokee with Massachusetts plates reading "491VE1," driven by a woman named Sarah Curran of Wakefield. Anyone who sees this vehicle or person is asked to call 911 immediately.

At 5:40 p.m., a Bedford Police officer spotted Curran driving along Route 62 and pulled her over. After confirming her identity, she and taken to an area hospital for evaluation without further incident. 

Police later said no weapons were found in Curran's vehicle. 

Burlington Police said police in Merrimack, New Hampshire, contacted them around 1:20 p.m. about the online threat, and that a trace of Curran's phone indicated she was in Burlington.

Further pings of her phone indicated she was never in Burlington, but was in a North Shore community — first in Manchester-by-the-Sea and then in the Peabody area.

Schools in Burlington were briefly locked down out of an abundance of caution, but authorities lifted the lock-down just before 2 p.m. Classes were not disrupted.

Police said there was no danger to the Burlington community. They would not say whether she was believed to have a gun.

Manchester-by-the-Sea police said they were notified around 2 p.m. that Curran's cell phone had pinged to a location in their town. They conducted a search of the area but did not find her. They said a second ping showed that her vehicle was in Peabody. A third, later ping showed the vehicle in neighboring Middleton.

"There was never any indication that the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea was a target or that Sarah Curran had a previous connection to this area," Manchester police Chief Ed Conley said. "All we know is that a telephone belonging to Sarah Curran was in Manchester-by-the-Sea, along with other North Shore Communities, at some point today. Officers, however, remain vigilant."

Contact Us