Deputy Accidentally Shoots Another Deputy

An off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy inspecting his gun in a Valencia parking lot accidentally shot and wounded another off-duty deputy Thursday, authorities said.

William Pickett, 27, of Valencia was in good condition Thursday at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the stomach, Deputy Mary Landreth said.

Deputy Terry Finley, 24, had taken a personally owned semiautomatic pistol--not his duty handgun--from the trunk of his car and was checking to see if a round was in the chamber when the weapon discharged, Landreth said.

The men were standing in the parking lot of Pickett’s apartment in the 24400 block of Valencia Boulevard when the incident occurred about 1 p.m., Landreth said.

Pickett and Finley each have two years’ experience with the department and are assigned to a minimum-security section of the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho Jail near Castaic, Landreth said.

The shooting was considered accidental but was still being investigated, Landreth said.