7 Santa Ana Officers Investigated for Gunplay : Off-Duty Personnel Are Suspected of Peppering Supervisor Stanton’s Office

Seven Santa Ana police officers are under investigation for allegedly gathering after work atop a county parking structure last month and firing shots that struck the windows of Supervisor Roger Stanton’s office.

Only five of the officers actually fired guns during an impromptu celebration to mark the end of a probationary period for some rookie officers, and two shots struck the windows, sources said Wednesday.

“From what I know, it was one of those ‘choir practice’ type of things,” said Donald Blankenship, president of the Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn., referring to the activities of off-duty officers portrayed in “The Choir Boys,” a police novel by Joseph Wambaugh.

“It was pretty stupid,” he added.

Santa Ana Deputy Police Chief Eugene Hansen said Wednesday that criminal and internal investigations are being conducted by the department and that results should be available within two weeks. He would not discuss the incident except to say that officers responded to a report of shots being fired near the Hall of Administration in the early morning hours of June 18.

Names of the officers involved were not available, although Blankenship said they were not of supervising rank.

Law enforcement sources said the officers were standing on the top level of the Orange County Transit District parking garage in downtown Santa Ana at the time of the alleged incident.

The officers, who had worked the previous swing shift and would have been off duty by 12:30 a.m., were “working off a little steam” early in the morning when the shots were allegedly fired, one source said.

A transit district security guard, who reported hearing at least four shots fired, notified police about the incident, district officials said. According to Stanton, two bullets lodged high in the wall above the door frame in his office.

One official said the shooting took place about 3 a.m., but no evidence was found until later that morning, when Board of Supervisor’s staffers reported finding two bullets in the office of Suzanne Victor, a Stanton aide.

There is no record of a report of shots being fired in police logs at either the Santa Ana Police Department or the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols county buildings. Lt. Dick Olson of the Sheriff’s Department said the agency’s crime scene investigation unit was called to Stanton’s office at 8 a.m. of the day in question, but they were the only personnel involved. The evidence they gathered was turned over to the Police Department.

Hansen said that no record of the incident was made in police logs when the call first came in because no evidence of a gunman or shots being fired had then been found. Hansen did not explain why no mention was made in the police blotter later in the day after Victor reported the bullet holes in her office.

The bullets left two holes in separate windows of Victor’s office, according to Stanley Davidson, county chief of facilities operations. He said the bullets appeared to have been fired at an upward angle because they lodged at a higher level in the wall than the bullet holes in the window.

The parking structure is located directly across the street from the Hall of Administration and at a slightly lower level than the supervisors’ office windows.

Davidson said the panes weren’t replaced for about a week because of the investigation and damaged window blinds also had to be replaced. Although there were initial reports that a janitor had witnessed the gunplay, Davidson pointed out that the person assigned to that building, Hee Hong, would have left before the incident allegedly occurred.

“There is no conclusive evidence that anyone has violated any statute or rules of conduct,” said Seth Kelsey, an attorney who represents the Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn. He declined to discuss the incident except to say that a criminal and internal investigation is being conducted.

The attorney stressed the sensitivity of the situation, saying, “It’s very precarious.”

Kelsey noted that if the investigation results in charges or suspensions against any of the officers, the association will probably appeal that decision. “And I’ll be happy to talk to you about it at that time,” he added.

Blankenship added that even if the officers were charged criminally, the charges would be misdemeanors.

Hansen and other police and city officials also declined to comment specifically on the incident or identify the officers involved.

Hansen said he is prevented from commenting because of a “bill of rights”--a set of carefully spelled-out legal protections--for police officers. “We’re in no way trying to differentiate between police officers and the public. The police officers’ bill of rights gives them extensive protections,” he said.

However, Vice Mayor P. Lee Johnson expressed anger that the incident has yet to be reported to any City Council member. He delivered a memo to City Manager David Ream Wednesday, requesting an update on the situation.

“I’m disappointed,” said Johnson, who served as a criminalist for the Santa Ana Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after a stint as a police officer in El Centro.

“I want to give them the benefit of the doubt pending the results of the investigation, but it’s not the kind of conduct we expect from our police officers.”

Johnson said he believes the City Council should have known about the investigation.

“I’d like to develop a better system of communication so we don’t have to hear about these things second-hand,” he said.

Times staff writer John Needham contributed to this story.