By all accounts this appears to be an accident, but Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea is under investigation after he shot his friend while on a hunting trip last month:
O'Dea was on vacation April 21 in Harney County when he fired his .22-caliber rifle, striking a friend once in the lower left side of his back, according to police and Harney County dispatch records.
O'Dea on Friday called it a "negligent discharge.'' He was off-duty at the time.
Retired Portland police Sgt. Steve Buchtel, a former head of firearms training at the Police Bureau, was with O'Dea and called 911 at 4:37 p.m. that day.
Yes, you read that right. Chief O’Dea was with a former firearms training instructor. Both the Oregon Department of Justice and the Oregon State Police are conducting the investigation.
The incident only came to light when the Willamette Weekly contacted the police department to inquire about a tip. Police in Portland and in Harney County haven’t exactly been forthcoming with details, including the identity of the man who was shot:
It's unclear if Harney County sheriff's deputies knew then that the shooter was Portland's police chief.
Harney County Sheriff's Lt. Brian Needham said he couldn't make a police report available because it hasn't been finalized. He didn't release further details about what occurred. The investigation is ongoing, he said.
As the Willamette Weekly notes, this was kept unusually quiet for a full month:
What is highly unusual is to not share information about an accidental shooting, let alone one involving an officer of O'Dea's stature, in the first place.
WW learned that Mayor Charlie Hales has known about the shooting for more than three weeks, and also chose not to make the information public.
Just how quiet did they keep it? Not even the police department’s spokesman knew:
On Friday afternoon, when WW contacted Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson, Simpson said he was unaware of any shooting incident involving O'Dea. "First I've heard of it," Simpson said.
Accidents happen, but when you serve in public office, transparency is required. Both Chief O’Dea and Mayor Hales need to address questions about why they sat on this for as long as they did.