It should have been a normal back-to-school Tuesday after a holiday weekend. But it wasn't.

Local, county and state police converged on Tamaqua within minutes following what was reported as gunfire at 8:15 a.m. involving at least one masked person and maybe a second one. Police did not find a shooter.Schools were placed on lockdown.Officer Karl Harig of Ryan Township police alerted as many businesses as possible. Many locked their doors."You don't know if they'd take hostages," Harig said."We didn't know what was happening but we locked the door right away," said a representative at M&T Bank at the Five Points intersection.On the sidewalks, most pedestrians didn't know what was going on. A few went about their business.But the heavy police activity stopped others."I just came here to buy one of those flapper things for the toilet," said shopper Joe Schubert of Downingtown, visiting in Rush Township.Schubert was met with two different signs at the front door of M&S Hardware. One sign said "Open" even through the doors were locked.Scrawled on a yellow piece of paper attached to the glass was a second sign: "We are on lockdown."Police cars raced through downtown and streets of the South Ward.Eventually, the patrols slowed and the flurry of activity seemed to die down."We searched for 90 minutes," reported Officer Doug Springer of Tamaqua police. Springer said the police search included the Wabash Creek tunnel, a dark, mostly hidden cavern that winds three-quarters of a mile beneath the town.Shoppers, pedestrians and worried parents shared a feeling of despair and tension."It's ridiculous. The incident was happening as kids were waiting for school buses this morning," commented Jennifer Paisley on Facebook.Paul Corinchock of Tamaqua arrived downtown to go shopping, exiting his car at South Railroad Street, only to find stores closed."I didn't realize anything was happening. Makes me want to go back home for my gun," said Corinchock, who is licensed to carry a weapon.Marjorie Smith was visiting friends in Barnesville and drove into town for breakfast."I had no idea what was going on," she said. "But this stuff is now happening in small towns, too ... doesn't matter where you live."At least one of the shooters was reported to be last seen near an embankment off Mahanoy and Cherry streets, an area leading to the rear of Tamaqua Public Library on South Railroad Street.Police set up a command post in that location, and at one point, members of the news media were asked to leave the area.However no suspect was found.