Codiac Regional RCMP have identified the 20-year-old man they are searching for in the Moncton area.

Police say Travis Squires might be in possession of a firearm and may do harm to himself.

Officers started the search for Squires at 5:30 a.m. Monday after receiving a call that a man was doing damage to a Shamrock Avenue home and had assaulted another man inside.

Police allege Squires fled the home and was seen going into a shed where a firearm was believed to have been stored. A witness then saw him heading into the nearby woods.

Officers checked the shed, but there was no firearm inside, and investigators believe Squires may have taken it.

Police closed Salisbury Road between Edinburgh Drive and Hump Yard Road Monday morning and they were asking people to avoid the area as they searched for Squires.

Residents in the Salisbury Road area were also asked to stay in their homes as a precaution.

RCMP scaled down their search around noon, narrowing their perimeter while maintaining a focus on the west-end neighbourhood where the incident began.

Salisbury Road was reopened to traffic Monday afternoon, allowing residents in the area, including those in Rosewood trailer park, free to come and go.

The RCMP's emergency response team, K9 unit, an RCMP helicopter and aerial drone assisted in the search.

Some residents say they were both shaken and reassured by the heavy police presence on Monday.

“It's quite unsettling to see this type of action going on in your area, but it's nice to see the RCMP reacting in such quick force,” said local resident William Ainsworth.

Scott MacKenzie and his wife, who recently moved to the trailer park, had been away for a few days when they returned to find their home inside the lockdown zone.

They live just a few doors down from where the early-morning events unfolded.

“Really uncomfortable, because you don't realize how quickly something can happen right underneath your front doorstep — you never know,” MacKenzie said.

With incidents like this sparking somber memories in Moncton, RCMP say they are now better equipped to handle this type of situation.

“All members that are trained in carbines are now carrying them — full operational duty,” said Cpl. Mike Gaudet.

Anyone with information on Squires’ whereabouts is asked to contact police.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis