Imbler man arrested after gunshots reported in Pine Avenue disturbance

Union County deputies arrested 45-year-old Brian Gregory Sprauer after gunshots were reported on Pine Avenue in Imbler just after 5 p.m. Thursday, June 15. The call sent deputies to a small residential stretch of a city that covers about 0.2 square miles and had 245 residents at the 2020 census.

When deputies arrived, they spoke with Sprauer, whom they knew from prior contacts. Sprauer said several people had been on his property, refused to leave and threatened him when confronted. Deputies also took statements from a witness, and those accounts did not line up on a key point: whether the shot was intentional or accidental.

That disagreement sits at the center of the case. Oregon law, under ORS 166.220, treats unlawful use of a weapon as either attempting to use a dangerous or deadly weapon unlawfully against another person or intentionally discharging a firearm in certain residential areas within urban growth boundaries. The Pine Avenue call placed the incident squarely in that public-safety lane, where deputies had to sort out a property dispute that involved a weapon and a report of gunfire.

The arrest also adds to a familiar name for local readers. In November 2023, Sprauer was identified in connection with a multi-agency narcotics search warrant at his La Grande residence, a separate case that does not appear to be tied to the June disturbance on Pine Avenue. For Imbler, the immediate issue was the same one deputies were called to address that afternoon: a firearm-related confrontation in a town small enough that one disturbance can ripple across an entire neighborhood.

The broader picture in Union County is one of rural property, close quarters and fast-moving law-enforcement calls. The county’s economy is rooted in agriculture, timber and wind energy, while hunting, fishing, skiing and camping draw steady attention to the region’s outdoor landscape. Against that backdrop, a gunshots call in Imbler carried obvious weight for nearby residents, even before the legal questions were resolved.