January 18, 2001 Thursday Sunrise Edition
Copyright 2001 The Oregonian
The Oregonian
January 18, 2001 Thursday Sunrise Edition
(CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore.) -- A special weapons and tactics team was never briefed on safety rules before beginning the training scenario at Camp Rilea that resulted in an accidental shooting death, according the shooting review board of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department.
The department’s six-member board, which recently completed its internal investigation into the Sept. 12 shooting of Deputy Bill Bowman, released its findings this week.
Bowman, 35, was shot in the head while playing a robber as he leaned out the upstairs window of a two-story house, according to documents from Clatsop County’s major crime team.
In a three-page report, the shooting review board cited team members, without singling anyone out, for violating range safety rules and firearms safe-handling practices.
Sheriff Pat Detloff said he will not discipline any individual for the accident. After nearly two months off to recover from the tragedy, the team began training again Nov. 7 with new written safety guidelines in place.
The sheriff’s department’s new safety guidelines for special tactics training incorporate existing department policies and guidelines already followed by other counties’ special weapons teams.
Before training begins at Camp Rilea, one team member is briefed by National Guard personnel on safety policies. That person is responsible for informing the rest of the team, said Deputy Angela Blanchard, spokeswoman for the Clackamas County sheriff’s department.
The information was not conveyed to the team on Sept. 12.
Although a safety officer assigned to check all weapons was not designated for that day’s training, Deputy Frank Schoenfeld was instructed by the team commander, Sgt. Bob Lowe, to conduct safety checks twice that day, but not before the fatal scenario.
Schoenfeld checked weapons but did not check each member’s personal gear to see whether anyone was carrying live rounds. The board also said the sniper squad leader, Sgt. Chuck Slaney, should have inspected the weapons after Schoenfeld.
The accident occurred after Deputy Dan O’Keefe, who was having trouble loading his rifle with a magazine full of blanks, used a magazine containing live rounds to test his weapon and lost track of the magazine. Deputy Kevin Vail then unknowingly loaded that magazine into his gun.
The report said the Millersburg area of the Camp Rilea training grounds, where the sniper scenarios were to occur, prohibited live ammunition anywhere on the range. Anyone entering the range should have been searched for live ammunition and had weapons inspected.
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