LEWISTON — Three men were ordered out of a car at gunpoint Friday after a man reported he had been threatened by another man with a firearm.

Half a dozen police officers swarmed on Oak Street at around 3 p.m. When the first officers arrived, they found the suspect car pulling out of Nomar Court with three men inside.

Two officers were out of their cruisers seconds later. One aimed a rifle at the small green car while another drew his sidearm.

One by one, the men in the vehicle were ordered out of the car with hands held high. More officers arrived and more guns were drawn. In five tense minutes, police got the suspects handcuffed and loaded into their cruisers.

In the end, it turned out to be nothing more than a civil dispute, police said. No gun was found and after interviewing those involved, police don’t believe one had been brandished.

The suspects were released and no charges were filed.

One witness said two groups of men had been yelling at each other moments earlier, near the parking lot at Oak and Sabattus streets. One of the men involved in the argument got on the phone, calling police to report he had been threatened.

No one was hurt and no shots were fired. But two men who work in the area said the neighborhood has become increasingly dangerous in recent years.

“You take your life in your hands whenever you walk around here,” one of them said.

The incident remained under investigation.

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