Portland Police Chief Larry O’Dea is under state investigation for accidentally shooting a friend in the back during an eastern Oregon 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.
O’Dea on Friday called it a “negligent discharge.” He was off-duty at the time.
Oregon Live reported that the wounded 54-year-old man was described as “alert and breathing,” according to dispatch records. He was driven to the Fields Station restaurant in Fields, where he was airlifted by LifeFlight helicopter to the closest trauma hospital, St. Alphonsus in Boise.
“I’m very thankful that my friend is OK, and I’m tremendously upset this happened,” O’Dea said in a prepared statement.
He didn’t comment further. Police didn’t explain why O’Dea was only now publicly acknowledging the shooting. Portland police and the Harney County Sheriff’s Office didn’t identify the friend who was shot.
Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Justice are now investigating O’Dea, state police Capt. Bill Fugate confirmed.