The U.S. District Court went into lockdown after a police traffic stop turned violent Thursday morning.

Chief Deputy Clerk Bill Bezzant confirmed the incident to KUAM News.

He said that a driver drove into the court’s parking lot during a traffic stop by the Department of Public Safety along Chalan Pale Arnold Road.

Police officers surrounded the car but after failed communication with the driver, the vehicle sped off and slammed into a parked car while reversing and also hit a police vehicle before attempting to escape.

“CNMI DPS vehicles raced to cut-off the target vehicle’s exit from the parking lot, after which the driver stopped and surrendered to DPS Officers,” the court’s statement to KUAM explained.

They added, “The driver was restrained, arrested, and removed from the scene by the CNMI DPS. No shots were fired. The entire operation was conducted by the CNMI DPS, in and around the parking lot of the District Court. At no time did the target driver or any DPS Officers enter the Courthouse building. During the active DPS operation, the Courthouse entry was restricted or “locked down” until the CNMI DPS operation was complete with the target driver arrested and removed from the scene.”

KUAM has reached out to CNMI DPS for comment.