Bend PD: Unfounded shooting report closed downtown streets
(Update: Unfounded report of shooting prompted ‘active threat’ closures)
A call reporting a shooting at a Greenwood Avenue business Saturday morning turned out to be unfounded, police said, but led to a major “active threat” call-out of officers and the closure of several streets for nearly two hours.
Police were dispatched at 7:37 a.m. to Yellowknife Wireless at 136 Northwest Greenwood Avenue on a report that a female had been shot, Sgt. Robert Jones said.
“The reporting party advised that they had shot a female and would shoot the police” who respond, Jones said in a news release.
The call prompted the closure of several roads around the business and involvement by Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies, Oregon State Police, Bend Fire and Public Works departments, ODOT and the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT).
Streets in the area were blocked off by patrol cars as many officers had their guns drawn, and witnesses reported seeing police drones in operation.
A team of officers and deputies cleared the business, which is closed on weekends, and found no one inside or around it, Jones said. Roads in the area reopened around 9:20 a.m.
Police investigating the incident have “not substantiated any credible threat to the community,” Jones said in a news release. Anyone with information that could help their investigation was asked to call police at 541-693-6911.
A Bend PD tweet around 8:40 a.m. stated, “We are working an active threat investigation in the area of NW Greenwood and NW Harriman (avenues).”
They said Greenwood Avenue was closed east-west at Harriman and Northeast First streets and the southbound Bend Parkway exits at Hawthorne and Lafayette avenues also were closed.
“Please stay out of the area. Find alternate routes,” the earlier tweet concluded.
After the incident, Bend Police thanked several agencies for their assistance, including Bend Fire, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, 911 dispatchers and ODOT.
