Chicopee standoff and shooting frightened parents

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Friday truly was a very tense and stressful morning for everyone in and around downtown Chicopee, as a shooting and standoff happened during a very busy time of the morning.

Once the area was blocked off, you can see from our video people just crowded around trying to find out what was happening.

Parents were especially worried about their kids because two schools were put on lockdown. The Bowe School on Hampden Street is just around the corner from West Street where the shooting took place.

Holyoke Catholic High School was shut down, and most students were already in class.

When they heard about the multiple gunshots and school lockdown, parents' instincts kicked in and their children’s safety was all they could think about.

“There was a handicap bus over there that was caught in the crossfire that they evacuated so I got scared and call the first Student which is the bus company to make sure it wasn't my son's bus,” Elizabeth Rios told 22News.

According to State Police spokesperson David Procopio, the driver was the only person aboard the bus in question at the time of the shooting.

“If they would have been at school and the school would have been locked down, I mean no parent wants to hear this is going on and your kids are locked in a school. it's just crazy, it's crazy. That's the only word I can use is that it's crazy and it's scary,” Julie Gardner told 22news.

Holyoke Catholic followed procedure and the kids in the school at the time were told to follow instructions and go to a corner.

They were on lockdown for about two and a half hours.

Even though this has been cleared up, many people here are still very shaken up and they say it will take them a while to absorb everything that happened just down their street.