by Dave Workman | Senior Editor
The Portland, OR, police chief was placed on administrative leave as an investigation unfolds into an accidental shooting more than a month ago to determine whether he provided misleading information to investigators, according to Fox News and the Portland Oregonian.
In an ironic twist, the Oregonian reported that Portland Mayor Charlie Hales was in Washington, DC, when the story broke, attending a “gun violence conference.”
Chief Larry O’Dea reportedly acknowledged that he accidentally shot and wounded a hunting companion on April 21. The firearm was a .22-caliber rifle, according to Fox.
O’Dea was reportedly hunting in eastern Oregon with two retired police officers and other friends. They were at a campsite, reportedly “sitting around a makeshift campsite, drinking beer and shooting at squirrels” when the mishap occurred.
Mayor Hales reportedly appointed Assistant Chief Donna Henderson to serve as acting chief while the investigation continued.
The afternoon incident was immediately reported to local authorities, but according to the Oregonian, O’Dea apparently did not tell the Harney County Sheriff’s Office that he was responsible for the negligent discharge. Instead, the initial story was that the wounded man had accidentally shot himself while trying to reholster a sidearm.
However, the Oregonian has reported that O’Dea advised the mayor on the morning of April 25 that he had actually fired the shot. But that is apparently where the story stopped. Nobody in Harney County was advised.
O’Dea did reportedly tell a captain at the police department’s Bureau of Professional Standards division about the negligent shooting, but nobody from that bureau or the mayor’s office told the city’s Independent Review Division, which the newspaper said is responsible for investigations involving the command staff of the Portland Police Department.
The newspaper account said that after the victim was wounded, O’Dea and retired Police Sgt. Steve Buchtel and some other companions drove him out of the wilds for more than a half-hour to reach pavement. They met a LifeFlight helicopter in the tiny Fields Station community, and the victim was airlifted to a hospital in Boise, the closest trauma hospital.
The mishap occurred in the remote southeast corner of Oregon, about 20 miles from the Fields Station.
