WILMINGTON — Shot Spotter picked up an alert of gunshots fired in the area of Tenth and Orange streets almost an hour after a crash happened nearby.

Crews from WECT were responding to the crash when the shots were fired. Officers closed Tenth Street between Market and Dock while they investigated the area.

WECT crews said police had their guns drawn and told them to get down on the ground. After being locked down for about 30 minutes, they were able to safely leave the area.

WECT News Operation Manager Gabe Ross said they were just talking when all of a sudden they heard a “pop, pop, pop!”

“[It] almost sounded like fireworks, and from there I heard an officer yell, ‘Get down!’ so we both just immediately laid flat on our stomachs and were probably there for a good 20 minutes,” Ross recalled.

Ross has seen reporters in the field during similar situations, but this was his first experience.

“This is the first time that it’s happened to ME – out in the field and that shots have been fired, and I have to say that it’s a very scary experience and not something I soon want to re-live,” Ross said.

Police were in an area nearby investigating a crash unrelated to the shooting that happened around 1:30 a.m. at the intersection of Tenth and Dock streets.

Sgt. Richards with the Wilmington Police Department said the car involved in the crash had been reported stolen from the Creekwood community. He said the car ran a red light at Tenth and Market streets, hit another car, then flipped over before hitting the Theater Now building at the intersection of Tenth and Dock streets.

According to Richards, the woman driving the stolen vehicle was thrown from the vehicle and taken to the hospital for treatment. Police say she will be arrested and charged when she is released from the hospital.

The driver of the vehicle she hit is okay.

TV crews forced to the ground while Wilmington police investigate reports of shots fired