Crime & Safety

MythBusters Stars Visit Home Damaged by 30-pound Misfired Cannonball

MythBusters stars Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage seemed shaken at the accident, in which a heavy 5.5-inch projectile shot out of control during the filming of their show.

The stars of the Discovery Channel's show "MythBusters" paid a visit to a Dublin neighborhood Wednesday to apologize about the 30-pound .

MythBusters stars Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage spent time privately talking with homeowner Hithe Shetty, who lives on Cassata off of Old Westbury Way near Tassajara Road, before addressing the media.

"I would want to be reassured that this will be taken care and that this will never happen again and that's exactly what he asked and it's what we assured him," Savage said.

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The Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb squad often works with the popular Discovery Channel show because its creators are based in the Bay Area and often film in the East Bay. The cannonball bounced over several barriers and flew roughly 800 yards off course from the range before hitting the home.

It then bounced across Tassajara, smashing through the windows of a parked minivan and landing inside.

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The show, which tests out various myths, was trying to test a steel cannon in comparison to a stone cannon, which could breach a castle wall.

"What cannons can do is shocking," Savage said. "They have a lot
of power, and the power got away from us."

The two said they were speechless when they saw the damage the cannonball caused, saying that nothing like this had ever happened before.

The two stars were not present for the experiment but said the mistake was such a wake up call, cannons will no longer be shot from the area.

"This was simply an accident, and we're going to find out why it happened and make sure it doesn't happen again and for no other reason than we're not going to be shooting cannons here again," said Hyneman.

When asked whether the show would continue filming in the area, Savage told the media that "whether or not we come back here to film is honestly the least of our concerns right now."

The show has been shooting in the area for roughly eight years. An investigation into the incident is underway.

The stars said they were deeply sorry for the accident and that it was the worst thing they could imagine happening.

"We're looking at all the reasons that this happened, making sure that not only does it never happen again, but that we make everything here right, that we fix the house in every way that needs to fixed so that it's as good or better than when our cannonball got to it," said Savage.

In an interview Wednesday morning, Shetty said his wife was napping in the master bedroom of their Cassata Place home when the , traveled up the stairs and then blasted out through a second- story bedroom wall. She woke up to plaster and insulation spraying everywhere.

"She thought the house was under attack," Shetty said, adding that the couple's two children, ages 2 and 5, were home when it happened, as were Shetty's wife's parents.

The cannonball didn't stop at the Shetty house. Across Tassajara Road, Dublin resident Jasbir Gilllives, who lives at the corner of Springvale and Bellavue, said the cannonball landed inside his minivan.

The noting that an investigation is underway and that, "Sheriff Greg Ahern has advised the city that he has suspended all non-emergency activities at the Sheriff’s Bomb Disposal Range until the completion of a full investigation into this incident."

To read the full statement, click .


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