Account of country club party draws ire
By From staff reports
Published in News on September 20, 2012 1:46 PM
A story published Tuesday, Sept. 11, said that a party at the club on the previous Saturday night allegedly involved a gun and that there were reports of gunfire.
Walnut Creek officials, who were not present at the party, maintain no gun was ever fired, and that a weapon was not even seen.
A parent whose child was at the party said that a partygoer did have a gun and that shots were heard.
Several parents claimed no authorities showed up after a 911 call was made.
Another group of parents said there were some minor words exchanged between two partygoers, but that there was never a confrontation and that the offending students were escorted out of the gathering.
They maintain that the situation was always under control.
Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders said deputies were dispatched to the club, and they arrived after the altercation had already ended. Winders said his officers said they were told by witnesses at the country club that partygoers had seen one teenager with a gun, but that he had left by the time officers arrived.
No charges have been filed by anyone involved.
Walnut Creek police were not at the scene and did not respond to the call because they were off duty at the time. Walnut Creek police Chief Ken Barrett said it is usual procedure for emergency calls at the village to be handled by the Sheriff's Office when no village police are on duty.
In Tuesday's story, for which Barrett was interviewed and asked to confirm the parent's account of the events, the police chief said the sheriff's deputies were called off before reaching the club.
No one account of the evening's events has been substantiated.
Walnut Creek Village Administrator Lou Cook said this week that Walnut Creek does not provide security for events held at the club, but that private parties who rent the club are urged to provide their own security. Most do so, he noted. He said that after last weekend's incident, village officials might consider making it a requirement.