May 4 (UPI) — Authorities in California arrested an off-duty Los Angeles police officer on Sunday after a second officer was shot during a camping trip.
Three police officers were camping and shooting guns near the Stoddard Wells Off-Highway Vehicle Area, south of Barstow, early Sunday when one of them was shot in the upper body, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The unnamed 48-year-old victim was airlifted to a trauma center and was expected to survive, the office said.
The suspect, Ismael Tamayo, 44, was arrested without incident and charged with attempted murder. Investigators said the cause of the shooting was still under investigation.
The Los Angeles Police Department said it was notified of the shooting early Sunday, confirming in a statement that all three were employees with the police force, and that Tamayo was in possession of a firearm when he was arrested. He has since been relieved of his police powers pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation, authorities said.
“The events overnight culminating in the serious injury to our off-duty officer, apparently at the hands of another member of this department, give me great concern,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement. “I spoke earlier this morning with San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon, pledging our full support of their criminal investigation.”
Moore said he is “committed” to understanding what occurred over Sunday morning.
