A patrol car windshield is not a prop. That’s a lesson one Pasadena, California police officer apparently had to learn the hard way, after a round fired from inside a department vehicle punched through the glass and into a fellow officer’s shoulder during what police leadership has formally categorized as “horseplay.” The incident itself happened last September, but the department released dashcam footage of the shooting publicly this week, and the video does not disappoint in its ability to raise eyebrows.
The footage, captured by the in-car camera of the vehicle driven by the officer who fired the shot, shows the inside of the Pasadena Police Department’s parking structure. Two officers are standing near a parked patrol vehicle when a third officer pulls up behind them. One of the standing officers responds to the approaching car by doing something that would alarm most reasonable people: drawing his firearm and pointing it directly at the officer in the incoming vehicle. He holds it there for a few seconds, then re-holsters. What the camera does not capture is what comes next, because the shooter’s own weapon is just out of frame.
According to Police Chief Gene Harris, the officer seated in the vehicle then drew his own firearm and pointed it toward the standing officer, at which point the gun discharged. The round traveled through the vehicle’s windshield and into the standing officer’s left shoulder. In the video, a visible puff of smoke appears near the windshield, and the wounded officer grabs his shoulder before colleagues rush over. It is, by any measure, a textbook demonstration of how not to handle a loaded service weapon.
Chief Harris accompanied the video release with a statement, noting that the wounded officer has since recovered and that the officers involved have been disciplined. The case, however, is far from closed. The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office has opened a criminal investigation into the incident, meaning this particular garage stunt could carry consequences well beyond a formal reprimand.
What the Video Shows and What It Doesn’t
The dashcam footage is notable for what it captures as much as for what it misses. Viewers see the quick-draw moment from one of the standing officers clearly, but the actual discharge happens just outside the camera’s field of view. Harris confirmed in his statement that the driving officer’s firearm discharged, striking the windshield first and then the standing officer’s left shoulder. The department says the footage was released as part of its critical incident transparency process, and it is now evidence in the ongoing DA investigation.
The windshield detail matters more than it might seem at first glance. Modern police vehicle windshields are standard automotive glass, not ballistic glass. A round fired from inside the vehicle at close range was always going to travel through it. That this apparently surprised anyone involved says something unflattering about the judgment on display in that parking garage.
“Horseplay” as an Official Law Enforcement Term
Chief Harris described the conduct as “unsafe and out-of-policy horseplay involving loaded firearms” in the critical incident video, and made clear that such behavior is inconsistent with the department’s expectations. The use of the word “horseplay” to describe one officer pointing a loaded gun at a moving vehicle and another drawing and firing in response is, charitably speaking, a generous interpretation. It implies the sort of roughhousing one might associate with a locker room rather than an armed standoff in a law enforcement parking structure.
That framing, though, carries legal significance. Classifying the incident as unintentional misconduct rather than deliberate misuse of a firearm shapes how both the administrative and criminal investigations proceed. The DA’s office will draw its own conclusions.
Criminal Investigation Underway
The shooting remains under investigation by both the Pasadena Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Harris has confirmed that administrative disciplinary measures were taken following an internal review but declined to specify whether either officer was placed on leave or what form the discipline took. The names of the officers involved have not been released.
The DA’s involvement elevates this well beyond standard department HR territory. Depending on how the office characterizes the incident, the officer who fired the round could potentially face criminal charges, even if the discharge is deemed accidental. California law does not offer blanket immunity for negligent firearm handling simply because the person holding the gun happens to be in uniform.
A Reminder About Firearms That Shouldn’t Need Repeating
From a pure mechanics standpoint, this incident is a useful, if costly, reminder that firearms do not have a sense of occasion. A gun pointed in a direction it shouldn’t be pointed, with a finger near a trigger it shouldn’t be near, behaves exactly as it was designed to. That this happened inside a police department’s own secure parking structure, among trained officers, makes the lapse harder to explain away.
Chief Harris stated that the department remains committed to transparency and accountability as the investigation continues. For the officer who took a bullet to the shoulder while standing in what should have been one of the safer locations in his workday, that commitment probably offers modest comfort. The good news is that he has fully recovered. The better news, depending on your perspective, is that someone caught the whole setup on dashcam.