ATHENS, Ohio - The annual Halloween party in Athens went from serene to shut down after gunshots were fired early yesterday. Three shots were fired on Court Street between Washington and Union streets about 2:05 a.m., Athens police said. The shots were fired into the air during a fistfight, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said. No one was injured.

ATHENS, Ohio � The annual Halloween party in Athens went from serene to shut down after gunshots were fired early yesterday.

Three shots were fired on Court Street between Washington and Union streets about 2:05 a.m., Athens police said. The shots were fired into the air during a fistfight, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said. No one was injured.

A pistol that police believe was the one used was found early yesterday after what Pyle described as an exhaustive search near Hudson Health Center, Ohio University�s campus health center, the chief said.

Two shell casings were found on Court Street, Pyle said, shortly after the sound of shots among the crowd was followed by screaming and running.

Police on horseback and on foot closed a section of Court Street for about an hour after the shooting, stopping anyone from entering that section of the block.

Ohio University police officers were searching campus buildings and stopping vehicles early yesterday. They did not tell reporters how those actions were related to what had happened.

Athens police reported making 40 arrests during the block party, including one felony drug-trafficking charge. University police arrested

24 people. Arrest figures were not available from the Ohio Department of Public Safety�s Investigative Unit, which primarily enforces liquor laws.

The relatively warm fall evening and the beat of live bands drew thousands to the annual party on Court Street at the center of this southeastern Ohio town.

Several stages featured musical groups throughout the night.

Athens police patrolled with backup from several other southeastern Ohio law-enforcement agencies.

�I always look forward to the music at the end of the night,� said Ben Waddell, a 21-year-old OU junior from Houghton, Mich. Waddell dressed as Clark Kent. �On most nights, when people would be getting tired at a block party, everyone rallies at midnight for the music.�

The Court Street event draws people from far and wide.

�I have friends here. I�ve always come here,� said Sean Harrigan, 19, of Towson University in Maryland. Harrigan said he has attended three consecutive Halloween parties in Athens.

�The parties are more intense,� Harrigan said of events in Athens compared with those at Towson, near Baltimore.

Dispatch Web producer Jared Rutecki contributed to this report.

amiller@dispatch.com

@WillDrabold