An assault and battery occurred on Fourth Avenue early on Monday morning, according to the Waltham Police Department. Pursuit of and subsequent search for the suspect, whom the police have identified as Darren Dyette, began at around 6 a.m. near Main Street and Bear Hill Road, according to a March 18 Waltham Patch article. 

Area residents received calls around 7:30 a.m. alerting them of the unusual police presence. At 9:30 a.m., residents received a second call saying that the main search was over, but warning them to be on the lookout for a man matching the description of the suspect, who police said had dreadlocks and was wearing a black sweatshirt. Both State and Waltham Police participated, with the State Police even sending in helicopters to aid in the search, per the same Patch article. 

Waltham High School operated under a “shelter-in-place” procedure this morning due to the assault, per the Waltham Patch article. The article explained that shelter-in-place is not the same as a lockdown. During a shelter-in-place, school operations carry on as normal inside the building. Unlike during a lockdown, however, students and staff are not permitted to leave the building, and visitors are heavily screened. The shelter-in-place lasted until around noon and Waltham schools proceeded with a normal dismissal, according to the article.

Waltham Police asked locals to report any sightings of Dyette to 911, warning, “Do not approach this person. He should be considered armed and dangerous.”