Officer Killed in Training Reminiscent of O.C. Fatality

A police reserve officer was killed Sunday when a gun accidentally discharged during a training exercise, authorities said.

The identity of the Palo Alto officer was not immediately released in the case, which was similar to the fatal Christmas Day shooting of an Orange County sheriff’s deputy in a Lake Forest shopping center parking lot last year.

Lt. Torin Fischer said the Palo Alto officer was participating in a role-playing exercise and apparently was accidentally shot by another team member. The victim was playing a “bad guy,” Fischer said.

The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. at an Amtrak Station where the training exercise took place, police said.

The victim was pronounced dead at a Gilroy hospital.

The officers from the Mountain View, Palo Alto and Los Altos police departments were training in preparation for this summer’s World Cup soccer games at Stanford, police said. An investigation was continuing.

The victim was 33 years old and had been with the Palo Alto Police Department since Jan. 13, 1993.

In the Orange County incident, Deputy Brian P. Scanlan fatally shot colleague Darryn Leroy Robins, 30, as the two deputies ran through a mock car-stop, with Robins playing the suspect and Scanlan the arresting officer.

Scanlan told investigators he fired accidentally after he was startled to see Robins pull a handgun from the visor of his car.

An Orange County grand jury refused to issue a criminal indictment in the shooting. U.S. Justice Department investigators are reviewing the case to determine whether grounds exist to indict Scanlan under criminal civil rights law.