There was a lockdown in Rock River on Thursday morning. All because of a heated exchange between a wanted man and an annoying rooster.
At 6:18 a.m., the Albany County Sheriff’s Office got a call about shots fired in Rock River. Rather than running around like a chicken with its head cut off, Sheriff Aaron Appelhans put Rock River Schools in lockdown “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Rock River is a small town, and we wanted to ensure the safety of the students and staff,” Appelhans told Cowboy State Daily. “We don't get many calls for roosters, but we do get calls for shots fired from time to time, usually for recreational shooting on private property or public lands.”
Appelhans and the deputies found a chicken-and-egg scenario when they got to the scene. Two individuals were frustrated by the crowing of a “well-known” rooster, so they attempted to silence it with a shotgun.
“The individuals were not terribly pleased with the rooster making the noises it was making at that time in the morning and tried to shoot it.”
Appelhans said at least one shot was fired, but nobody was injured. The rooster, which had been living under a camper trailer, escaped unscathed.
A Cock Up
You can sneak a sunrise past a rooster, but you can’t sneak an outstanding warrant past the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. One of the individuals shooting at the rooster had warrants out of Texas and was arrested at the scene.
The other individual was cited with reckless endangerment with a firearm: winner, winner, no chicken dinner.
The rooster was not cited or relocated, but Appelhans confirmed that there is “no further safety concern” to the Rock River community.
Despite the rooster’s ubiquity in Rock River, Appelhans said it appears to be a free-roaming rooster without a home. Squatting roosters aren’t something that the Albany County Sheriff’s Office typically deals with, so they let it be.
“The rooster doesn't necessarily belong to anybody,” he said. “There isn't anybody who was claiming ownership of it, so I believe it just wanders around the area. From the information we gathered, it has been an ongoing nuisance, even though law enforcement presence hasn't been requested for it.”
Since it was exercising its right to free speech, there was no need to criminalize the caterwauling chicken.
Rock River residents need not be chicken-hearted by the shots fired, and they’ll be able to rise with the rooster going forward.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
