Portland police chief's initial account to deputy: Friend shot himself trying to reholster gun [View all]

Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea, at least two retired Portland tactical officers and other friends were on vacation in eastern Oregon, sitting around a makeshift campsite, drinking beer and shooting at squirrels when one of them suddenly screamed out in pain.

They realized he'd been shot and got the wounded 54-year-old into a silver Dodge Ram pickup and drove to a spot where they could get cellphone coverage.

At 4:37 p.m. on April 21, retired Portland police Sgt. Steve Buchtel called 911 to report the shooting, telling Harney County dispatchers that the man was alert and breathing and was wounded in the lower left back.

Though O'Dea and investigators have given only elliptical accounts of what happened that day, interviews with those familiar with the case, dispatch records and public statements by Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward fill in some of the details.
...more...
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/05/police_chiefs_initial_account.html