Shooting update: No ‘intruder,’ self-inflicted wound

Two days after a resident east of Bend called 911 to report he’d been shot in an encounter with a masked intruder at his home, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said Wednesday that they have determined it was not true and that the wound was self-inflicted.

The shooting reported by Wickiup Road resident Todd Dickerson, 40, had prompted a sweeping search of the quiet rural neighborhood and recorded emergency alert calls to hundreds of area residents warning of the possibly armed and dangerous suspect.

The “sheriff’s office, through further investigation, has determined that there was no intruder into the residence and has confirmed that there are no outstanding suspects or dangers to the community regarding this incident,” Sgt. Deke DeMars said in an update Wednesday.

“The investigation revealed the injury was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” DeMars said, adding that “the case will be sent to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s (Office) for review.”

Word of the shooting has shaken residents of the Arrowhead Acres neighborhood and others nearby, though the limited description — an adult male, about 6-feet tall wearing a ski mask, word that the gunman had left the weapon behind and that a sheriff’s K-9 had been unable to detect a traking scent roused suspicions among some.

“This is the first time,” neighbor Richard Carkhuff said Monday evening. “I’ve never heard of a break-in out in this area, because all the roads are dead ends.”

Dickerson called dispatch at 12:13 p.m. Monday to report he arrived home for lunch, went inside and was confronted by a burglar, deputies said.

The reported intruder had fled before deputies arrived, leaving the gun behind, said Lt. Chad Davis.

Bend Fire Department medics took Dickerson to St. Charles Bend for treatment of a single non-life-threatening gunshot wound, said sheriff’s Capt. Erik Utter. A nursing supervisor could not confirm or deny if he was still at the facility Monday evening or on Tuesday.

Investigators had not released several details, including the nature of the injury, type of gun and where the encounter in the home occurred.

The manhunt, which involved Oregon State Police, Bend police and a sheriff’s K-9 team was over by late afternoon. They “completed a thorough search of the area, with negative results,” Davis said Monday evening.

“(The officer) had been going up and down Obsidian,” Carkhuff said. “It was obvious he was looking for something or someone.”

The county’s EPN (Emergency Phone Network) system called 328 phones and got through to about 80 percent of them in an area bounded by Highway 20 on the north, Ward Road on the west, Gosney Road on the east and the Ward/Gosney intersection on the south, officials said.

Here’s the text that was read on the message:

“There has been a reported shooting event on Wickiup Road east of Bend, A male intruder shot a homeowner, Be on the lookout for a six-foot-tall male wearing a black ski mask, He is to be considered armed and dangerous, The suspect is likely on foot, Do not approach suspect and call 911 immediately if he or any suspicious activity is observed.”

Deputies converged on the area off Wickiup Road and Obsidian Avenue, in a small neighborhood east of Ward Road and south of Bear Creek Road. OSP forensic investigators joined detectives processing the scene.

Residents said the incident had prompted some new safety steps.

“I’ve never locked the cars,” Carkhuff said. “I have not locked the garage or the pole barn, but we will now.”

A resident on Arrow Avenue said Arrowhead Acres has about 50 homes on 1.5-acre lots.

Neighbor Jack Lloyd said the whole thing was “crazy — just, it’s unheard of. It’s just a wonderful place. This certainly won’t drive us away, but just not something that you’re used to seeing or hearing.”

Lloyd said neighbors also helped make sure each others’ homes were safe, “because law enforcement can’t go to every home. We have lots of nooks and crannies, so clearing the neighbors’ home for them, to make sure the bad guy wasn’t in there.”

The public was asked to report any suspicious objects or vehicles in the area. Anyone with information in the case was urged to contact the sheriff’s office at (541) 693-6911.