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LOS ANGELES โ A Los Angeles County deputy lied when he said he was shot in the shoulder while standing in a sheriffโs station parking lot last week and will face a criminal investigation, authorities said.
โThe reported sniper assault was fabricatedโ by Deputy Angel Reinosa, Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon said at a news conference late Saturday.
At the time, investigators believed Reinosaโs bulletproof vest saved his life but that a bullet grazed him. A department statement the next day said a single round hit the top of Reinosaโs shoulder, damaging his uniform shirt but failing to penetrate his flesh.
But no bullets were recovered from the scene and detectives saw โno visible injuries,โ Capt. Kent Wegener said Saturday night.
Much of the young deputyโs statement โwas self-serving and didnโt make a whole lot of sense,โ Wegener said. โThere were many things that didnโt add up.โ
Reinosa eventually admitted making up the story and using a knife to cut the two holes in his shirt, Wegener said.
Mayor Parris โEmbarrassedโ After Learning Ordeal Was a Hoax
Reinosa has been relieved of his duties and could face charges for filing a false report about a crime, officials said. He didnโt explain his motive for the fabrication, Wegener said.
Reinosa had been with the LA County Sheriffโs Department for a year and joined the Lancaster station in May for patrol training.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday he had been informed by sheriffโs officials that Reinosa had been struggling in his first year in the field โ a probationary training period that all deputies must complete before becoming full-fledged deputies. Sheriffโs officials wouldnโt immediately confirm that account.
โHe was not advancing through the training program at an adequate pace,โ Parris told the newspaper. โThere had been a lot of attention on him.โ
Parris declined to elaborate further on Reinosaโs performance but said the deputy was scheduled to be transferred from the Lancaster station and speculated that he had been unhappy about the pending move.
The mayor visited Reinosa in the hospital and then gave a press conference on the incident Wednesday night detailing the ongoing investigation.
Parris said he was โembarrassedโ after learning Saturday evening that the whole ordeal was a hoax.
Deputies Searched Through the Night for the Sniper
โAt the same time, Iโm grateful we donโt have a sniper running around,โ the mayor told the newspaper. โAnd Iโm really proud of how the Sheriffโs Department handled it. There was no attempt to cover it up.โ
Tactical teams worked their way through the building, evacuating some people and having others shelter in place, officials said.
Deputies cleared other nearby buildings, including a library. Authorities urged residents to avoid the neighborhood.
Metrolink train service was halted in the area.
The search was called off Thursday and authorities said the shooter was still at large.
โOur deputies responded to a cry for help and did exactly what they have been trained to do to protect our civilian staff, residents and community,โ said a department statement Sunday. โOur community and other first responder partners worked side by side with us to move quickly, effectively and efficiently. There is no shame in that.โ
The statement concluded: โThe actions of one individual are not indicative of who Lancaster Sheriffโs Station Deputies are.โ
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