Update: Report of child being shot at appears to be false

An apparent domestic disturbance led to a report of a child being shot at in the Hazel Dell area Thursday morning, but Clark County sheriff’s deputies quickly determined the report was likely unfounded.

The initial report indicated that a gunman had shot at a child during a possible traffic-related incident around 9 a.m. in the 9800 block of Northeast Tenny Creek Drive in north Hazel Dell. The incident occurred on a residential street not far off the Highway 99 strip.

Deputies arrived but found no victim, and in the first few minutes, discovered no evidence of a shooting, said sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Neiman.

A man was detained for questioning at a nearby shopping center in the 1200 block of Northeast 99th Street, near Interstate 5, deputies said.

So far, Neiman said, it doesn’t appear a gun was involved.

“It appears to be a domestic disturbance with adults,” he said.

A witness had reported the incident.

Because deputies never identified a victim, they wrote a report and suspended the investigation. There is nothing more to go on, Neiman said, but the information is on file in case a victim comes forward or another incident is reported at the location.

Neiman said that when someone calls 911, the information they give dispatchers is occasionally off base.

When these reports come in with misinformation, Neiman said, “a lot of times, (the reporting person’s) perception of something might not be completely accurate. It doesn’t mean they’re being untruthful or exaggerating or anything.”

Even though these occur on occasion, Neiman said he’d rather have someone err on the side of calling rather than not.

“I would rather have people in good faith call us, call 911, and report what they’re seeing, have us respond and have it turn out to be nothing than to not call and have someone be injured or something,” he said.