Shot fired into home’s garage east of Bend

No one heard it, so it was quite a surprise Sunday morning when residents of a home east of Bend found that a bullet had been fired through their garage, lodging in a wall and another object, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

It was the latest in a string of such incidents reported around the Bend area.

Deputies responded around 8:20 a.m. to the reported gunshot at a home in the area of Dixon Loop and Alfalfa Market Road, said sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Dizney.

The arriving deputy found a bullet hole showing the shot had gone through the siding beside a garage door and lodged in a sheet rock wall inside the home, Dizney said.

An investigation determined the bullet apparently was fired sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning from the general area of Dixon Loop in front of the home, which is about 30 yards from the street, the lieutenant said.

No one contacted in the area heard any gunshots, Dizney said, and the residents of the home didn’t notice the damage until Sunday morning, having been home at the time it apparently was fired.

“It is unknown at this time if the residence was intentionally targeted or if any motive exists to the shooter’s intentions,” Dizney said in a news release.

The homeowner helped deputies by finding part of the bullet lodged in an item inside the home and turning it over for their investigation, he said.

Dizney told KTVZ.COM the bullet partly went through a wall and lodged in an undisclosed “object” in the home.

“We have collected the object, and we can salvage the bullet,” he said.

Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (541) 693-6911. You can also use the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-877-876-TIPS or use the form on KTVZ.COM’s Crime Stoppers page. You can remain anonymous, and you could receive a cash reward.

Just over two weeks ago, on March 15, a gunshot was fired through the front window of a Deschutes River Woods, south of Bend. One of two residents heard a loud boom and the bullet was found later that day, having gone through a window, window covering and into a sheet rock wall.

On Feb. 1, someone shot out the windows in a home off Bunchgrass Place just east of Bend as a family slept inside. Less than two weeks later, residents in the same area off Eagle Road said they heard several shots fired. And over a year ago, in early 2012, shots were fired into a home on NW Jacksonville Avenue in Bend.

While detectives are the ones overseeing the investigations of the recent incidents, Dizney said, “I don’t have any evidence to show they are or are not related. I frankly doubt (they are), but that’s just conjecture on my part.”

Police in rural areas routinely respond to reports of residents hearing shots fired, but rarely find anything was hit (or are able to determine who was doing the shooting or if it was fireworks instead).

Whether the cases are related or not, Dizney said, “We’re wanting people to be more vigilant, pay attention to weird activities in their neighborhood. With the smallest tip, we can break it wide open.”