WALLOWA — The Oregon State Police is investigating an incident that occurred Wednesday, Jan. 4, near Wallowa in which an individual was injured by an explosive device and flown to a hospital — where explosive material reportedly was found on the man.

Kyle Kennedy, a captain with the Oregon State Police in Salem, said the incident occurred at 11:53 a.m. on Jan. 4.

“I can confirm the Oregon State Police responded to an incident involving an injury caused by an explosive device; however, this is currently an active criminal investigation and no further information will be available,” Kennedy said.

The Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office was unavailable for comment Friday. A call to Wallowa County District Attorney Rebecca Frolander was not immediately returned.

The man injured in the accident was flown to the emergency room at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, at about 2:30 p.m. Jan. 4. Hospital staff noticed something suspicious about the man and called police, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer told the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane.

Spokane police deployed its bomb unit to Sacred Heart.

“We got called in at the point that they realized there may have been an explosive device in or around his person,” Spokane Police Department spokeswoman Julie Humphreys said.

No information about the patient or the explosive materials was available. 

Beth Hegde, Sacred Heart communications director, said Friday it was “explosive material” rather than a device discovered on the patient, but couldn’t release anything else about the patient.

She praised the Spokane police and fire department for their response.

“They were good partners and helped us with the situation,” she said.

Hegde said hospital staff moved patients to other areas of the facility, but did not have to evacuate the emergency room.

The Spokesman-Review reported that Sacred Heart temporarily asked people in need of emergency care to seek treatment elsewhere while police officers removed the material from the hospital and put it into the street for disposal.

Police said in a press release that the situation was contained and that the explosive material may have been inadvertently brought to the hospital by the patient. They said preliminary information indicated the hospital was not specifically targeted.

The patient remained in the hospital Wednesday evening, but no other information about him or whether he has been placed in custody was available as of Friday afternoon. The man was the only patient in the aircraft.