Deputy shot with partner’s gun during struggle, officials say
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was shot with his partner’s gun, not the one carried by a transient, during a struggle last month in Long Beach, authorities said.
Sheriff’s officials originally reported that the deputy was shot in the stomach May 26 by Noel Enrique Aguilar, 23, a transient, during an exchange of gunfire.
The shootout left Aguilar dead.
But on Thursday, officials said the deputy was actually hit by a round from his partner’s gun as they tried to arrest Aguilar near 69th Way and Long Beach Boulevard shortly before 10 a.m.
Aguilar escaped and ran north. But the deputies caught up to him and a “second struggle occurred,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Aguilar, who authorities said was armed with his own handgun, reportedly tried to take one of the deputies’ guns, prompting them to open fire, officials said.
Authorities are still trying to determine who fired the partner’s gun during the struggle.
Aguilar died at the scene, where his gun was recovered, according to the statement.
The deputy, who was not identified, is recovering at home, sheriff’s officials said.
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