A Powell police officer accidentally discharged his weapon on Saturday after responding to what turned out to be an otherwise unfounded report of gunshots.

The officer’s gun fired directly into the ground in an area where there was no one else was around, said Powell Police Chief Jim Rhea, and there were no injuries or property damage. Rhea said the department is handling the matter internally.

“I can assure anybody that appropriate measures are going to be taken to ensure that this does not happen again,” he said.

The initial call to police came in just after noon on Saturday, Rhea said. That’s when a citizen at the Maverik gas station reported hearing a series of what they believed to be eight low-caliber shots coming from someplace south of the Garland Canal.

Officers set up a perimeter and canvassed the area, but found nothing out of the ordinary, Rhea said. No one else reported hearing gunshots.

“There [were] no signs of distress or a disturbance,” Rhea said.

Eventually, he said a homeowner on East North Street called dispatch and offered an explanation: The man relayed to officers that he’d used a Roman candle “to kind of ward off a hawk that was a little too aggressive” toward his pets and home, Rhea said.

In a Saturday evening Facebook post about the incident, the department cautioned homeowners against “engaging [with] predatory wildlife.” The post asked residents to instead reach out to police with any concerns about predatory animals.

While it wasn’t noted in the post, hawks enjoy protections under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and city ordinance prohibits residents from shooting off fireworks in town; the city’s ordinances also generally prohibit residents from discharging guns or firearms.

In Monday’s conversation with the Tribune, Rhea did not name the officer who accidentally discharged their weapon or go into detail about the circumstances.

He said one reason the mishap was unfortunate was because the officers had done a great job handling the original call — praising how quickly they responded, secured the scene and figured out the issue. It was after the area had been secured that the discharge occurred.

“No one’s perfect, and we do believe in accountability,” Rhea said, “so we are taking appropriate measures.”