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Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Production on the upcoming Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake was paused in downtown Baltimore following a shooting threat, police officials said. Filming was halted this past Friday after producers decided that it would be too risky to continue.
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"The leaders of the production decided to err on the side of caution and reschedule the shoot after they found another location," Baltimore Police Department (BPD) spokesperson James Moses said.
According to the Baltimore Banner, which first reported the situation, a group of drug dealers urged the series' production team to clear the set. These dealers eventually threatened to shoot someone, the Banner said, which prompted the film team to shut down production.
Moses further told the Banner that the drug dealers had attempted to extort $50,000 from the Lady in the Lake crew, but the production team declined.
The drug dealers reportedly threatened to return later that evening, though this did not appear to occur.
BPD officials said that the production team has rescheduled the shoot day and will look for another location within the city to continue filming.
Based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman, Lady in the Lake will star Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram, and follow an investigative journalist in 1960s Baltimore looking to shed light on murders within the city's African-American community.
The series began filming in Baltimore this past April, and is expected to premiere on Apple TV+ sometime in 2023.
Lady in the Lake is being helmed by production company Endeavor Content, which sent a statement to Deadline late Sunday describing the situation in more detail.
"Friday afternoon, on the Baltimore set of our production Lady in the Lake, prior to the arrival of the cast and crew, per their call time, a driver on our production crew was confronted by two men, one of whom brandished a gun directed at our driver, and then they fled the location," Endeavor said.
"It has been a privilege filming Lady in the Lake in Baltimore, working with its vibrant community across many areas," the studio added. "Our thanks and appreciation to the City of Baltimore, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the Baltimore Film Office, Maryland Film Office and the Baltimore Police Department for their incredible support as we continue production in the great City of Baltimore and surrounding communities."
Lippman, the author of the Lady in the Lake novel, is the wife of producer David Simon, the creator of the highly acclaimed Baltimore crime drama The Wire.
Simon tweeted in response to the threat that, though this was not his production, the BPD has always kept him safe on the set of The Wire.
"Not my production. Don't know all details. But we shot 200 hours of television over two decades. Communicated where we shot," Simon said. "Always a few loudmouths hyping; always folks in crew -- locations, security, BPD -- trained to firmly but respectfully respond. Baltimore is good people."
