Officers respond to shots fired. It was a Haysville farmer protecting watermelon.

An 87-year-old Haysville watermelon farmer’s efforts to protect his crops from raccoons and coyotes resulted in a call about officers being shot at and an armored vehicle response Wednesday night near 87th Street South and the Kansas Turnpike.

It also led to the Turnpike being shut down in both directions for 30-45 minutes.

All of it ended up being over a propane cannon that Kenneth Simons uses to protect his watermelon.

“It’s the coyotes. They say there is a big pack of them down there by the Turnpike close to where his field is,” said his wife, Esther. “More with the (raccoons) lately.”

Roughly 10-12 watermelons were disappearing each night, so about a week ago her husband put a propane cannon in their field to scare off the predators, she said. The device can be put on a timer and lets off a loud bang to scare away intruders.

He placed it on a smaller patch of their farmland just east of the Turnpike, she said.

Officers were originally called at 9:09 p.m. about shots fired near 87th Street South and I-35, according to Sedgwick County Lt. Benjamin Blick. An arriving deputy heard what he thought were gunshots and, after another deputy arrived, the two made their way toward an abandoned vehicle parked in a field south of 87th and announced their presence.

“Their announcement was met with what they believed to be three gunshots,” Blick said in an email. “The deputies and supervisors on duty coordinated a perimeter to contain what they believed to be a shooter and called for additional resources to include a drone and MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle).”

An off-duty lieutenant heard the call and remembered similar circumstances in the same area years ago that involved a propane cannon. The lieutenant contacted officers and helped connect them with Simons, Blick said.

Esther Simons said her husband went with deputies at around 10 p.m.

“They made a big operation out of it,” she said.

Blick said that “out of an abundance of caution” officers used the MRAP and drone to confirm that it was the propane cannon before clearing the scene at 10:42 p.m.

Each afternoon since July, Kenneth Simons has been selling his watermelon and cantaloupe out the back of one of his classic trucks by Colonial Heights Church on Broadway, a little south of 47th Street South.

He’ll be out there “as long as he has them,” Esther said. She wasn’t sure if he would continue to use the cannon.

“To protect your crops it’s legal,” Esther said. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be doing it.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 12:01 PM.