It sounded like a gunshot went off — but then an Oklahoma trooper saw feathers flying

A trooper with Oklahoma Highway Patrol was responding to a crash Friday when he was involved in an incident of his own.

Trooper Tony Harper heard what appeared to be gunfire while traveling near Cushing, but there was no gun in sight.

Instead, it turned out to be a vulture — one that smashed into the passenger side windshield of his cruiser while he drove.

“He said it sounded like a gunshot going off inside his unit as glass and feathers went everywhere,” highway patrol said. “He focused on getting his unit shut down and safely to the shoulder.”

Photos show the windshield of the cruiser smashed and feathers all around the passenger seat and floorboard.

It’s not an unusual thing, as collisions with vehicles are among the top five causes of bird deaths in the United States, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It’s estimated that between 89 million to 340 million birds die annually in vehicle collisions.

Dashcam video obtained by KFOR shows the vulture fly directly toward the passenger side window. The trooper was able to safely get to the side of the road to assess the damage, which he told KFOR took two hours to clean.

“It looked like somebody had a pillow fight inside of my patrol car,” Harper told KFOR. “I was glad that the bird actually impacted the passenger side of the car, and at the same time, I had on a pair of sunglasses so that protected my eyes.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 5:32 AM with the headline "It sounded like a gunshot went off — but then an Oklahoma trooper saw feathers flying."