‘Bad Guy’ Officer Accidentally Shot in Training Exercise

A Los Angeles police officer, pretending to be a “bad guy” during a training exercise at a Hollywood studio, was accidentally shot and wounded Thanksgiving Day by a fellow officer.

Officer Kevin Coffey, 28, underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the gunshot wound to his left hip. Hospital spokesman Ron Wise said he was in stable condition.

The identity of the officer who shot Coffey was not immediately released.

According to police and district attorney spokesmen, the shooting occurred about 6 p.m. on the grounds of a studio compound at Beachwood Drive and Sunset Boulevard.

“One officer accidentally shot another officer in the hip,” said police spokesman Fred Nixon. He confirmed reports that the officers were conducting a Thanksgiving Day training exercise in which Coffey pretended to be a criminal suspect and the other officer was practicing taking him into custody.

“This was purely accidental,” said Nixon. “Shooting should not have occurred at all in this exercise.”

The officers, both from the Hollywood Division, were on duty at the time of the shooting. Nixon said full details of the shooting would not be released until the Police Department had completed its investigation.

He did say the department and officers practicing their skills “occasionally use studio lots” for exercises. It was not known why such training had been arranged for Thanksgiving Day.

“That (Thanksgiving) strikes you as unusual?” LAPD Cmdr. William Booth was quoted as telling the Associated Press. “Well, I really can’t comment on what strikes you as unusual.”