Officer Takes a Shot at Prenup Meeting

An off-duty Long Beach police officer accidentally shot himself in the leg Monday during a prenuptial counseling session with his fiancee in Irvine, authorities said.

The officer was taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the lower right leg. “He’s in good condition, good spirits and expected to make a full recovery,” said Nancy Tabing, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department. “As with any officer-involved shooting, it’s our policy not to release the name of the officer until the investigation is complete.”

The 45-year-old officer, who has been with the department 16 years, was sitting on a couch next to his fiancee in an office in the 2100 block of Business Center Drive when the accident occurred about 1 p.m., Tabing said. “They had just sat down on the couch and were getting ready to begin,” she said, when the service revolver in the holster on his hip began jabbing him in the leg. “He was adjusting it, trying to make it more comfortable, and it discharged,” Tabing said.

There was no word on whether the incident would affect the couple’s marriage plans. “I would imagine she’s pretty shook up,” Tabing said of the fiancee. “You’re nervous enough preparing to get married and everything. If something like this had happened, I know it would have scared the heck out of me.”