After a four-hour search Wednesday, Eugene police deduced that suspicious objects thought to be explosive devices left in a yard on East 27th Avenue between Hilyard and Alder Streets were nothing more than a hoax.
Police spent Wednesday afternoon inspecting the area after they received a call from a resident who had discovered dubious devices in the caller’s yard. Police called the Metro Explosives Disposal Unit shortly after they arrived at the scene and blocked off the area from traffic.
After determining the devices were not a threat, police have now redirected their investigation to finding the person who placed the objects outside the home.
Residents who were home during the incident said that they were more curious than frightened about what was going on outside their windows.
“I came outside and the police told me to go back in, close my window and go to the back of the house just in case something happened,” said Wilma Crowe, a neighbor who lives adjacent to the yard in question. “I told them, ‘You are disrupting my curiosity.’”
Crowe said when she went back inside she heard two small “booms.”
Eugene police spokesperson Melinda Kletzok said the sounds were part of the process of the investigation and were not the detonation of bombs.
“I heard people shouting before each small boom, but I just assumed that it was part of the routine,” said University sophomore and neighborhood resident Colin Griffin.
Griffin said he was most impressed by the extensive technology that was deployed, including a medium-sized device that resembled a robot.
“It was cool that they had something to look over the scene without having to endanger anybody,” he said.
Kletzok said the episode should serve as a reminder that residents should constantly be aware of their surroundings.
“If it looks suspicious and you think it might be an explosive device, it is better to be safe than sorry,” she said.
[email protected]