FALSE REPORT OF SHOOTING INTERRUPTS BIRTHDAY PARTY

Cape Girardeau police may never find a man who called in to report a shooting that never happened on Friday.

But a man whose birthday celebration was interrupted by almost a dozen officers searching for a shooting victim wants to find the caller.

About 11:50 a.m. a man was reported shot at an apartment on Middle Street, Cpl. Rick Schmidt said. But the man's voice was unclear, so several addresses were checked until it was narrowed down to a white house with four apartments on the corner of William and Middle streets, he said.

When police asked the resident to open the door, he refused. Police pleaded with the man, who was having the birthday party, for several minutes without success.

In order to enter a residence without a search warrant in hand, police must have a justifiable reason, he said. But since no smell of gunpowder was detected, or a hint of narcotics, officers decided to wait.

"Even if a little .22-caliber was used, there would have been some smell," Schmidt said.

After nearly an hour, the man decided to open the door and allow police inside.

The man's brother, who declined to give his name, said he had simply gotten tired of talking to police.

His brother said the man held police off for so long because he wanted to show them they couldn't enter his apartment without a warrant.

Because the false shooting report was not called in through 911, police don't have a record of the phone number used by the caller, Cpl. Kevin Orr said.

It is possible that police will allow the man whose birthday was interrupted to listen to a recording of the call to see if he can identify the voice, Orr said.

"We we're having fun until the police showed up," the man's brother said.