He was rushed to the hospital with a gunshot injury. Instead, police arrested him and his driver.

Fresno police arrested a man Friday who had shot himself and was taken to the hospital by a driver who then was found to allegedly possess methamphetamine and was also arrested.

Andrew Kousol, 24, who had a gunshot injury to his lower left calf area, arrived at Community Regional Medical Center around 6 p.m. He was driven there in a white SUV and was being assisted by his brother, who police did not identify.

Kousol and his brother were asked by police how the injury occurred. But the two did not provide many details, leading police to grow suspicious about the shooting.

After they examined the wound and were told the shooting had happened somewhere in southeast Fresno, police officers began to suspect that Kousol shot himself.

In the SUV parked outside, a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun was found covered with blood and in plain sight in the cargo space of the vehicle.

The driver and passenger of the SUV were held by police as they investigated the weapon. Arturo Garcia, 21, the vehicle owner, was found with an unknown amount of methamphetamine and heroin packed for sale, police said. The passenger was not identified.

Kousol’s brother then admitted Kousol had actually shot himself in the garage of their home on the 4900 block of East Laurel Avenue in southeast Fresno. The family had found a bloodied and injured Kousol after they heard the single gunshot, the brother told police.

Eventually, police arrested Kousol and Garcia. Kousol, a self-admitted Lao Boys street gang member, was on probation for evading a police officer. He was arrested Friday on suspicion of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

Police said Garcia, a street-level drug dealer, was arrested for possession of heroin and methamphetamine for sale. Both suspects were booked into the Fresno County Jail on Friday night.

This story was originally published February 4, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "He was rushed to the hospital with a gunshot injury. Instead, police arrested him and his driver.."