Summary fficers in riot gear fanned out across the intersection of North and Pennsylvania avenues.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Police deployed in force in a flashpoint neighborhood of Baltimore on Monday amid erroneous claims that officers had shot a young black male.
Officers in riot gear fanned out across the intersection of North and Pennsylvania avenues, and witnesses said pepper spray was used on bystanders.
Rumors swirled in mid-afternoon that police had shot -- perhaps fatally -- a young African-American man who was seen running away from pursuing officers.
But on Twitter, the Baltimore police department said reports of a man being shot were "not true."
"Officers have arrested a man for a handgun at the location," it added.
Baltimore has been on a knife s edge since the April 19 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American who sustained a severe spine injury while in police custody.
His death sparked days of protests that at times turned violent.
Six police officers were charged Friday over Gray s death.
Baltimore police Lieutenant Colonel Melvin Russell told local all-news radio station WBAL that the man was the subject of a "very short pursuit" in the area.
"The adult male appeared to pull a handgun out (and) there was the sound of a gun shot," said Russell, head of the police force s Community Partnership Division.
Three rounds were found in a revolver, one of which had been spent "at some point," he said.
"He s not injured anywhere on his body," Russell added. "Police have not discharged any weapons, so we could not have shot him."
The area is covered by city-operated surveillance cameras, he noted.
