Officials resist releasing info about gunshot incident inside Concord Police Department lobby

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- An accidental gunshot injured someone in the Concord Police Department's front lobby, but the police chief and other city officials refuse to discuss it or release much detail about what happened.

DAN NOYES: "Chief, does the public have a right to know about the shooting in your lobby? Chief, I need to talk to you about this."

In fact, they've been able to keep this story quiet for two months, but the ABC7 I-Team is the first to break this news. The shooting raises several serious issues.

Concord Police Chief Mark Bustillos did not answer our phone calls and email over the past two months. The I-Team's Dan Noyes stopped by his office, spoke to the clerk and waited, but he didn't come out. So, he attended the Concord City Council meeting last week to finally ask the chief, "Does the public have a right to know about the shooting in your lobby?"

Bustillos refused to answer. We got the lead on this story just after 6 p.m. in the ABC7 newsroom, Saturday, April 19.

INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker

Assignment Editor Ed Walsh explained, "I was just sitting here listening to the scanners, like I always do."

Walsh heard an emergency call over the radio: "Engine six. Medic 16. Respond code 3."

A gunshot in the lobby at Concord Police headquarters.

The dispatcher from Contra Costa County Fire said, "It's going to be the PD front lobby, accidental discharge, unknown injuries, enter through the front lobby doors."

"That's a story," Walsh said. "That's a big story. That doesn't happen every day."

We needed details for that evening's news, so Walsh started making phone calls and sending emails to Concord police and city officials. But he received no response. Walsh says, in his experience, other police departments around the Bay are more forthcoming.

"They can't tell you every last detail, but they'll give you the basics. 'Hey, somebody was shot, the injuries were such and so, they were taken to a hospital. We're looking for a suspect.' They give you the basics. In this, it was just stonewalled," Walsh said.

MORE: San Leandro city council member targeted by Department of Justice in Sheng Thao investigation

Stanley Kephart spent 40 years in six different police agencies, including as chief. He now testifies as a police practices expert.

Kephart said, "Your call should have been referred immediately to the public information officer, who should have given you the information that you were requesting or what he could give you, or she could give you, and then wait for further developments."

Kephart said the reputation and credibility of the Concord Police Department is at stake.

"It is an embarrassment. It means that there's a training failure. It means that there was a supervision failure. There was some reason why this accidental discharge occurred, or it wouldn't have occurred," he said.

Five days after the shooting, Concord's City Manager Valerie Barone finally emailed back: "I am not able to provide any comment on your inquiry."

So, Walsh fired off a public records request for "any and all emails, surveillance and body camera video, text messages and other documentation related to the shooting." The city answered with only a highly-redacted document titled "police event information". It gives the date, time and location of a "suspicious circumstance" -- an "accidental discharge shot in leg," something we already heard from the police radio that night.

The Concord police dispatcher announced, "Code 3 medical, shot into leg. Going to be an accidental discharge of a firearm."

The report lists 10 Concord PD personnel -- officers, detectives, sergeants and a lieutenant -- who came to the lobby after the shooting. It says Officer Brandon Arata applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding at 6:15 p.m., and that Officer Stanley Cherry called dispatch to direct the emergency response.

STANLEY CHERRY: "X14 Can you have medical come to the front lot. I got the front doors open for them."

DISPATCH: "Copy, thanks."

MORE: Belmont officer charged with rape had 2017 domestic violence arrest, in US on work permit

The report also indicates the victim went by "AMR (ambulance) to John Muir Medical Center Walnut Creek".

But, from the report released by Concord police, we don't know whose gun went off and why, whether they shot themselves in the leg or fired and hit someone else. We don't know a name, rank, gender -- or if any civilians were involved.

David Loy of the First Amendment Coalition said, "The public needs the full story, not just the official story."

Loy is legal director of the nonprofit that defends free speech, free press and the people's right to know.

He said, "Discharging a firearm in the workplace, whether that's a police officer or a teacher, a planning clerk, a city manager or anybody else, any time a gun goes off in the workplace, that's a serious issue the public has a right to know about."

The city did disclose emails that show Police Chief Bustillos did not inform Mayor Carlyn Obringer about the shooting -- that she found out from us two days later.

Dan Noyes asked Chief Bustillos, "Shouldn't you have told the mayor about it before we told her?"

He didn't answer.

MORE: San Mateo Co. court judges worry about their safety, claim deputies asleep on the job

We emailed Mayor Obringer, and she responded, "I apologize, but because this is a personnel matter, I cannot comment on this."

But we explained to her there are many issues to discuss beyond the personnel issue: What went wrong? Has the department retrained the officer involved? Did it cause a review of training for the entire department? Should the public feel safe walking into that lobby or encountering Concord police officers on the street?

The I-Team went to the city council last week to ask those questions but got no response.

"I wonder if you have any concerns with the way the shooting was handled?" Dan Noyes asked to Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister and Mayor Carlyn Obringer, the second through the door.

DAN NOYES: "Mayor, do you have any questions for the chief how it was handled?"

DAN NOYES: "I'm Dan Noyes from Channel 7. You're a councilmember, right?"

DOMINIC ALIANO, CONCORD CITY COUNCILMEMBER: "I am."

DAN NOYES: "I wonder if you have any concerns about the shooting at the lobby of the police department?"

DOMINIC ALIANO, CONCORD CITY COUNCILMEMBER: "I'm going to have to refer you to staff."

DAN NOYES: "Have you heard about that?"

DOMINIC ALIANO: "I'm going to have to refer you to city staff."

DAN NOYES: "I'm asking you as your role in oversight for the police department."

DOMINIC ALIANO: "Thank you."

DAN NOYES: "You aren't going to talk to me, huh?"

MORE: '764' threat: FBI says predators targeting kids on video games, social media in Bay Area and beyond

"It's a big deal," Stanley Kephart said. "It's a serious issue that deserves your participation. It commands your participation to tell us what is being done for the safety and security of your employees, as well as the general public in the city of Concord."

Bustillos did not answer when the I-Team's Dan Noyes asked, "Anything to say to the public, chief?"

David Loy said, "It would be great if public officials would see the public as their partners, if not their supervisors, so to speak, and being accountable to the public instead of treating the public as an adversary."

The City Council has a police oversight meeting scheduled for this week. It is closed to the public, but we'll keep trying to find out what happened and what they're doing to prevent it from happening again.

Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.