Playing around with loaded guns generally seems like a bad idea, one that law enforcement officers would know to avoid. However, the Pasadena Police Department just revealed that some of its officers got so carried away with “horseplay” last September that one of them got shot.
“At the time of this incident, one of our involved officers sustained serious injuries and required medical treatment,” Pasadena Police Chief Gene Harris said in a video released Thursday. “Pursuant to applicable law, I exercised my statuary authority to delay the public release of the critical incident video. This delay was necessary to protect the integrity of the investigation and allow investigators to complete essential investigative steps.”
This footage from the evening of Sept. 7, 2025, is from the inside of a police vehicle shows it driving up to another police vehicle with its back hatch open in the police department parking lot at 240 Ramona St.. Two officers can be seen standing in front of it, one leaning on the vehicle on the left side of frame and another on the right side of the frame.
“One of the standing officers – inappropriately, and in a quick-draw fashion – drew his forearm from his holster and pointed it at the officer seated in the approaching unit,” said Harris, describing the actions of the officer on the right side of the frame.
A few seconds pass and a plume of smoke fills the frame, and that officer on the right side of the frame clutches his shoulder. Harris confirmed that the firearm of the officer behind the wheel discharged, striking the front windshield of his police vehicle and the other officer’s left shoulder.
As the officer who was leaning on the vehicle backed up around the left side of the frame, officer clutching his shoulder followed after, moving in a crouched position. A third officer came up to assist him and he sat down on the ground, leaning against the vehicle. Other officers also arrived in the area as the video ends, and the officer who was leaning on the vehicle then walks around to its open rear side, apparently looking for something.
Since the incident, the struck officer has since recovered. As of this week, the incident remains under investigation and review by the Pasadena Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Harris said that the “administrative investigation has been completed and disciplinary measures taken,” and he stressed that the department does not condone “horseplay,” among its officers. He also noted that such incidents can be difficult for the community to process and that he wants the department to be as transparent as possible.
“The shooting resulted from officers engaged in unsafe and out-of-policy horseplay involving loaded firearms,” the chief said.
Accidental firearm discharges from police are not unheard of. Last month, CBS News reported that a Massachusetts State Police trooper was wounded in what appears to be an accidental discharge of his weapon and last year, Audacy reported on a school police officer in Texas who accidentally discharged a weapon inside an elementary school.
