LEWISTON — Student soccer players and their coaches scrambled off Drouin Field on Wednesday night after hearing what sounded like gunshots in the area about 6 p.m.

Multiple people reported hearing what they thought were gunshots around The Colisée on Birch Street. One man said he thought there had been at least a dozen shots fired. Others reported hearing the same from various locations around the downtown.

Whether actual shots were fired remained in question late Wednesday night. Complicating the matter is the fact that Lewiston police are currently holding firearm training in an area off River Road.

It’s possible, many speculated, that shots from the training area carried over the downtown.

Police were investigating in the area around Drouin Field about 7:30 p.m. There were no immediate reports of injury and no spent shell casings had been found, although police were still searching in several areas.

One witness who was watching her niece play soccer on Drouin Field said she heard what sounded like gunshots about 6 p.m. Since nobody else was reacting, she continued watching the game, she said.

Then she heard what seemed to be more gunshots that were louder and closer to the area. This time, the crowd reacted. The students were ushered off the field and some people chose to leave the area.

“We all stayed pretty calm but kept a steady power walking pace to get to our cars,” she said. “I got to my car and nobody seemed hurt and I stopped hearing what sounded like gunshots.”

One man reported that he gathered up his family and left the area immediately after the sound of gunfire.

Meanwhile, many reported they were in the area of The Colisée about 6 p.m. but heard nothing. Among them was Lewiston City Councilor Scott Harriman.

“I’m only about 1000 feet from the Colisée, had my windows open, and didn’t hear anything,” Harriman wrote on Facebook.

As the situation remained under investigation, more people were reporting what they had heard — or not heard — on social media.

A man on Nichols Street reported hearing what sounded like more than a dozen shots. A woman on Tampa Street said she heard a volley of gunfire around the same time but assumed they were from the police training area. Others on Bates Street, Jefferson Street and areas in between also heard what they thought were gunshots in that neighborhood.

While police continued to investigate, several local people took to social media to discuss what may prove to be the latest round of gunfire in downtown Lewiston.

With so many of these incident being reported in the area around The Colisée, some wondered if those sports fields are still safe for youngsters to play on.

In late September, hockey practice at the rink was disrupted after gunshots were heard in the area. In that incident, police later confirmed shots had been fired in the area of Ash and Howe streets and that two parked vehicles had been struck.

Later the same night, more shots were fired on Pierce Street.