An investigation is underway after a Los Angeles police officer’s personal rifle “accidentally fired a round” in a parking garage earlier this week, officials announced.
The May 9 incident occurred in the lower-level parking structure of the Compton Courthouse, located at 200 West Compton Boulevard, according to an LAPD news release.
The officer, who has not been identified, was reportedly standing outside his patrol vehicle and was “manipulating his personally owned patrol rifle, when a Non-Tactical Unintentional Discharge occurred,” police said.
Surrounded by concrete, the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and struck the roof of the officer’s unoccupied patrol vehicle.
“The bullet did not penetrate the police vehicle and was located on the ground nearby,” authorities said.
While officials stress that no community members or officers were injured during the incident, it’s unclear if anyone else was standing nearby, walking past or sitting in their vehicle when the officer’s rifle fired the bullet.
LAPD’s Force Investigation Division investigators responded to the scene and are investigating the incident.
