Search Ends After Shots Heard At Novato Coast Guard Housing Area

NOVATO, CA — Police stopped searching the U.S. Coast Guard Housing area in Novato on Saturday after shots were heard in the area overnight.

At around 8:15 a.m., the Novato Police Department, with the help of the Marin Regional Crisis Response Unit and U.S. Coast Guard officials, began a search of the U.S. Coast Guard Housing area located at the former Hamilton Army Airfield.

During the search, officers heard shots fired. The department's canine unit, drones from the Marin County Sheriff's Office, and a helicopter from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office were deployed to help with the search.

After about four hours of searching, no one was seen with a firearm and no suspicious people were found. The search was called off around noon, the department said in an alert.

No shots were fired toward police or other law enforcement officials during the search.

Residents in the area are asked to call 911 if they see or hear any suspicious activity.
It is also duck hunting season, and gunshots could potentially be related to legal hunting, police said.

Police are unsure if the shots heard Saturday are related to a shooting that occurred in the same area Thursday, where there was an altercation between a U.S. Coast Guard Security officer and an unknown suspect, according to the department.

Officers did not find the suspect Thursday after searching the area, who was described as a white male wearing tattered black clothing. As of Saturday morning, investigators have not made any arrests related to the Thursday shooting, according to Novato Police Capt. Sasha D'Amico.

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