Tripwire device found in Forest Park

[airoff]

Let's hope this remains an isolated incident.

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -

A tripwire connected to an improvised gun was found on a popular running and hiking trail near Forest Park in Portland over the weekend.

The Portland Police Bureau's bomb squad responded to the tripwire device Saturday at 5 p.m. It was located on a trail from the 4000 block of Northwest Thunder Crest Drive heading into Forest Park. The trail is known as Firelane 3 on area maps.

Police said the tripwire was slack, and it appears it had been tripped. The improvised gun connected to the tripwire was loaded with a shotgun shell, but it appears it wasn't functioning.


http://www.kptv.com/story/26831946/trip ... n-portland

[BrianEdwards]

Something straight out of the Vietnam War, or likely a video game. So glad it didn't go off!

[jdemott]

Very scary. Here's a link to a longer version of the story.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/inde ... rt_m-rpt-1

[Lumpy]

Let's hope this remains an isolated incident.

Guess what? Bad news, it's common enough for a trip wire of some kind to be out in the woods than you would think. What is very common about them, in my experience, is they are almost always faulty. I've found three since I was 21 years old, and I'm almost 50 now. I never stuck around to see for myself what the trip wire was attached to, I always made note of the location, and backtracked out, considering myself lucky I wasn't hurt and not wanting to find more further on.

Two were in Trinity County CA and one in a yard in Estacada. Also saw a deputy climb a fence only to fall into a hidden pit designed to be a man trap. That was bad for him, many busted bones, a punctured lung, bad concussion.

Don't forget to scan the trail itself as you hike. It can tell you a lot if you look.