SUDBURY -- Sudbury police are investigating after an altercation in the Donovan area resulted in someone firing a gun in the air several times.

One woman, who lives near the scene on Frood Road, told CTV News she heard gunshots around 11:45 p.m.

“We went to bed and we heard five or six gun shots," Wanda Vojtesek, who lives near the scene, told CTV News. "My husband didn’t think they were gunshots, but I did. I had trouble sleeping after that. They were loud and clear. My bedroom is at the front of the house. I don’t know where it came from. I know it came from up the street.”

As officers were making their way to the area, they received new information that several individuals were seen arguing outside of the residence before the gunshots were heard, said Greater Sudbury Police Service in a news release Thursday morning.

"Officers arrived in the area of the residence and located multiple shell casings on the ground outside of the home," police said.

Police found video surveillance footage which appeared to show four people involved in a physical altercation that led to the shooting. The four, described as men wearing dark clothing, fled on foot from the scene.

David Lacasse is another resident who lives nearby. He said he didn't hear anything Wednesday night, but that his father heard about the incident over a police scanner. He said he is unhappy police did not release any information until Thursday morning.

"I am really disappointed. If the details do come out that there was a shooter and the shooter did get on the loose or is still on the loose, I'm really disappointed with police because that's information that should be like handed out to the public in this area specifically like right away," said Lacasse. "If you look at what happened in Nova Scotia, that shooter, the RCMP shooter… I don't know what happened, but they didn't tell the public and a lot of people died because of that."

Det. Insp. John Valtonen agreed police could have done a better job communicating with the public.

“We could’ve actually pushed something out on Twitter sooner,” Valtonen said. “And we are going to strive to continue doing that and we try to get better every day to keep the community involved … We’ve sent out folks canvassing in the neighbourhood making sure we answer any questions."

Kaitlyn Dunn, corporate communications coordinator for Greater Sudbury Police Service, said the initial information should have gone out to the community.

"Our goal is always to get information out to our community as quickly as possible without undermining or jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation. In this case, we could have done much better," said Dunn. "Officers notified the residents in the immediate area that the individuals had fled, however the initial information could have and should have gone out to the entire community. We will continue to work on improving our processes for getting information out to community members."

Police said nobody was injured in the altercation, but that the four men involved were gone when police arrived.

Anyone with information is being asked to share it with the Greater Sudbury Police or Crime Stoppers.