Here are excerpts from the Oregon Department of Justice investigation of then-Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea’s April 21 off-duty shooting of a friend iduring a Harney County camping trip.
Some of these are from transcripts provided by investigators of their interviews and others are from audiotapes transcribed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. O’Dea never told Harney County authorities that he was Portland’s police chief, nor did others on the trip, who were current or retired officers.
Audio of interviews from the state criminal investigation
State Department of Justice reports from the investigation
Interview with Harney County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Nisbet on April 21, 2016.
O’Dea tells Nisbet that he believes his wounded friend, Robert Dempsey, who was sitting to O’Dea’s right in a lawn chair while shooting ground squirrels, shot himself accidentally:
O’Dea: “I was on this side of him so I see his left hand was empty and he’s right handed. I don’t know if the gun was in his hand or not in his hand.”
Nisbet: “OK.”
Harney County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Nisbet interviews Larry O’Dea
O’Dea: “And then – then other folks start comin’ and then uh peelin’ down but what it was lookin’ like was my – my guess it was that he was, he’s re-holstering this and maybe shoots himself.”
Moments before the shooting, O’Dea explains to Nisbet:
O’Dea: “So I had just got up and I left my gun on my chair. I’d walked a few steps over to where Jeff was and I opened a drink and then I heard Bob make this really like a ‘uuuuuuhhhh,’ you know … then he made somethin’ sound like you know clearly he was in pain.”
Interview of O’Dea by Department of Justice investigator Jodi Shimanek on May 23 by phone:
Shimanek asked how he became convinced after talking to fellow camper Mike Lieb that he was responsible for the shooting
O’Dea: Mike told me two things that made me convinced that it had to be me. First, there was no doubt there was a shot that fired between us (referring to Bob Dempsey and O’Dea)…and that either he or Jim, I think it was Jim, had checked Bob’s gun at some point and Bob’s gun had a full magazine and an empty chamber…And Bob was just clear it wasn’t him. Those three pieces made it really clear it had to be me.
Interview of O’Dea by Shimanek on May 26 at O’Dea’s home.
On where his rifle was when friend Robert Dempsey was shot:
Shimanek: “So I want to make sure I understand, so you put like the stock of your gun on the ground leaned it up at the front of the tray, on the side of the tray like where … do you remember?”
O’Dea: I couldn’t tell ya’ exactly
Shimanek: “OK.”
O’Dea: “What I, you know what I remember was you know my intention is I’m getting’ up, I’m gonna take a gulp of this beer. I’m settin’ my rifle down, and I’m gonna ultimately end up back over here and get these headphones off and let my head breathe.”
On whether O’Dea was drinking alcohol:
Shimanek: “Okay um so you guys drinkin’ alcohol?”
O’Dea: “Uh throughout the trip we were. This day actually I had not had anything to drink. Right before this happened, I’d gone to my truck, ate a little bit and brought a beer back uh and … but I hadn’t, I was opening it during you know what happened but uh that day I hadn’t actually had any alcohol yet except I had a little bit of Irish cream in my coffee at 6:30 in the mornin’.”
Shimanek: “OK.”
O’Dea: “… But I didn’t have any uh you know generally we’d been you know we’re out there and be drinkin’ some beer and stuff but I hadn’t had anything that day.”
Interview of O’Dea by state Justice Department investigator Shimanek at his home on May 26.
On how O’Dea changed his mind and realized he shot his friend when confronted by several friends days later over the phone:
O’Dea: “My belief at that time was that he had accidentally shot himself, reholstering his gun.
When I turned and looked at him, I see a bullet line in line with his holster and his gun is not there.”
Shimanek: Betticket “You believed that up until middle of day Sunday when Mike Lieb calls you?”
O’Dea: “(Steve) Buchtel and I were talking on the way home. Bob (Dempsey) called us on the way home about 10 o’clock. ‘ I didn’t shoot myself; I didn’t shoot myself.’ I was like, ‘ I think you did.'”
On why O’Dea didn’t call the Harney County Sheriff’s Office when he recognized the bullet came from his gun after talking to former police partner and camping colleague, Mike Lieb:
O’Dea: “In hindsight, that was the biggest mistake I have ever made. … In hindsight that was very foolish. I should have called somebody and said, ‘Here’s something significantly different than how it started out.'”
Shimanek: “Any discussion about need to make this public?”
O’Dea: “My concern why we wouldn’t make something public was until the deputy was back and has the rest of the information. … Somehow it got leaked. The problem with letting 18 people know.”
Phone interview of Mayor Charlie Hales state investigator Shimanek on June 1:
Charlie Hales interviewed about Larry O’Dea off-duty shooting
On what O’Dea told him four days after the shooting:
Hales: “He told me an investigation was being launched by Harney County sheriff’s, and that he, Larry, had also informed Capt. Rodrigues, head of our internal affairs, so the Police Bureau could conduct the customary investigation for our internal affairs as well, and I would be informed of the results of that investigation. Those were the facts that he communicated to me then. Much of the conversation was more on a boss to an employee. He was clearly distraught. Larry is a very conscientious decent guy. He was significantly distraught over having hurt his friend. I was reassuring him because I hired this guy as police chief, and he’s a very effective police chief ….
“I did not put him on leave because this was an accident. It was being properly investigated … because I knew a proper investigation was underway.”
Asked why he didn’t notify the media about the shooting until a month later:
Hales: “That should happen after the investigation, rather than before.”
Interview with victim Robert Dempsey with state police Det. Meyer and state Justice Department investigator Shimanek on May 21:
The officers question Dempsey about how long he’s known O’Dea, what O’Dea had said about whether he had called the Harney County sheriff’s deputy to tell the sheriff’s office that he was responsible for the shooting.
Meyer: How long have you known him?
Dempsey: 30 years
Meyer: Was there ever a conversation between you and Larry, like ‘hey don’t tell anybody what happened?’
Dempsey: Nope what we said was…if and when..He goes ‘when it gets out, it’s not going to be a big deal. We’ll deal with it as it goes, step by step.
Meyer: Did Larry ever tell you that he’s going to call the deputy and tell him what he told you?
Dempsey: He told me that he had called the deputy and had told him.
Meyer: Larry told you he called the deputy and told him what he had told you?
Dempsey: Larry called me and told me he had called the Harney County sheriff and reported that he be the one who shot me.
Meyer: How often do you talk to Larry, typically?
Dempsey: Once every month or two months..three or 4 times a year maybe.
Meyer: Since that incident, I guess you’ve been in communication a little more than that?
Dempsey: Oh yeah, he wants to know if I’m ok. Then we have to deal with the insurances and all of that stuff. LifeFlight is not a cheap excursion..$50,200 .
Meyer: How much time did you have to take off of work?
Dempsey: Three weeks
Meyer: Do you have any limited abilities or anything?
Dempsey: No…100 percent
Meyer: Glad to hear that. You’re very fortunate
Interview of Steve Buchtel, retired Portland police lieutenant and former firearms instructor who is now sergeant of OHSU public safety, by Oregon State Police Lt. Mitch Meyer on May 26.
Meyer: “Did you ever think to tell the deputy at the scene that you were in law enforcement?”
Buchtel: “No.”
Meyer: “How come?”
Buchtel: “It’s not required.”
Meyer: “OK.”
Buchtel: “He didn’t ask. Had he, had he asked what I did for a living, I woulda told him straight up.”
— Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
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