ANAHEIM : Officer Accidentally Shoots Drug Suspect

An undercover Anaheim narcotics officer on Tuesday accidentally shot and wounded a drug suspect who struggled with officers as they tried to arrest him, police said.

The unidentified victim was in stable condition at Riverside General Hospital with a gunshot wound to his right side, police said.

Investigators from Anaheim were in Riverside conducting an undercover narcotics investigation at the time of the 1:30 p.m. shooting, Anaheim Police Lt. Ray Welch said.

“Investigators observed an apparent narcotics transaction in progress and moved in to make arrests,” Welch said. “One of the suspects struggled with an officer and sustained an apparent accidental gunshot wound . . . by one of the officers who was attempting to contain him.”

Welch declined to say how many suspects were arrested or release the names of the suspects, the victim or the officers involved in the incident. The investigation is continuing, he said.

The incident marks the second time this year that an Anaheim officer has been involved in a shooting. On Aug. 30, a 19-year-old man was shot and wounded in the back after he allegedly came at an officer with a screwdriver, police said.