A reported shooting that left a neighborhood near Alto shaken Wednesday night turned out not to be a shooting after all.
Banks County deputies and other emergency personnel responded to a home on Nix Road about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday regarding what a neighbor reported as gunshots.
"We received two separate calls in reference to the same incident," said Banks County Sheriff's Sgt. Carissa McFaddin. "The first call was from a concerned neighbor on Nix Road, who reported hearing loud arguing and what they thought to be gunshots."
As deputies responded, a second call was received from the owner of the home where the noise reportedly originated.
"The homeowner stated that they needed deputies to respond to the residence in reference to a family member who refused to leave," McFaddin said. "When deputies arrived at the home, the complainant was the only one there and, due to the concerning phone call that we received from the neighbor, deputies went ahead and secured the scene and investigated the incident."
After searching the area around the home, no shooter was located.
"The other two parties involved in the incident were fine," McFaddin said. "They were located in another county, and had left the residence as soon as the 9-1-1 call was made for them to be removed."
McFaddin said an argument did take place at the home, but what was thought by the neighbor to be gunshots was not.
"We discovered during the investigation that an argument had occurred outside," McFaddin said. "During this argument, a refrigerator was being moved down the stairs. At some point, the refrigerator was dropped and it fell onto the concrete outside the home. That is when the can of Freon attached to the refrigerator exploded and caused the noise that was heard by the neighbors."
No charges have been filed in the incident, which McFaddin said was found to be just a verbal dispute between family members.
Nix Road is located on the Banks County side of Alto.
