TWO COPS APPARENTLY FORGOT NEVER TO LET A SUSPECT GET BETWEEN THEM WHEN ATTEMPTING AN ARREST

Two California Police Officers Shoot Each Other During Arrest

By Claire Morgan

The Sacramento Bee
April 23, 2019

ELK GROVE, California -- Two police officers inadvertently shot each other in Elk Grove while attempting to apprehend a burglary suspect on Saturday night, according to the Elk Grove Police Department. Both officers sustained apparently minor gunshot injuries to their legs and were later released from an area hospital.

Officers responded to reports of a suspicious person near Tegan Road shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday, according to a news release. The caller said the suspect was pulling on the doors of a recreational vehicle and moving a firearm from his pants to his sweatshirt.

When they arrived at the scene, officers found a male and a female, and ordered them to sit on a curb. While another officer was arriving, the male suspect, who the Elk Grove Police Department has only identified as a 41-year-old Sacramento man, stood up and ran away.

Officers chased the man both by cruiser and on foot to a nearby shopping center, the release said. The two officers stood on either side of the suspect, who then moved toward one of the officers with “his hands near his midsection area,” the release said.

The two officers shot the suspect, but during the altercation, both officers sustained gunshot wounds to the lower legs. The suspect did not shoot at the officers, Elk Grove Police Department spokesman Jason Jimenez said, and both wounds were a result of the other officer’s gunshots.

The suspect survived his injuries and was taken to an area hospital. He was found to be in possession of a loaded firearm, the release said.

Police say both officers were taken to an area hospital and have since been released.

The woman who was found with the male suspect was detained and released, according to the release.

When he is released from the hospital, police say the male suspect will be booked into the Sacramento Main Jail on charges of being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm and resisting arrest.

The officers involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave as the department investigates the shooting, according to the news release.