October 15, 2019 11:10 a.m.
What was initially reported to be gunshots near Sutherlin Tuesday morning, led to a large response from law enforcement, but turned out to be vineyard cannons instead.
Sergeant Brad O’Dell of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said at 7:45 a.m. dispatchers received a report of a vehicle that was in the ditch in the 200 block of Fort McKay Road. Dispatchers were told by the reporting party that the female associated with the car was shooting out of the vehicle’s window.
O’Dell said deputies from DCSO along with officers from Sutherlin Police and troopers from Oregon State Police headed to the area.
When officers from Sutherlin Police arrived the woman was briefly detained. O’Dell said it was quickly determined that the woman had not fired any shots and the sound the caller was hearing was the cannons, which are used to keep birds away from vineyards. No actual gunshots had been fired.
O’Dell said the driver had turned too soon and accidently missed a driveway. She was not injured. No citations or arrests were made.