Tulare police officer shot in scuffle during traffic stop
A police officer was shot in the leg during a scuffle with an unruly car passenger during a traffic stop Friday night in Tulare.
The Tulare Police Department officer, whose name was not disclosed, had pulled over a car in front of the Panda Express restaurant on East Prosperity Avenue, east of Hillman Street, and learned that one of the passengers had outstanding warrants for his arrest.
A Tulare Police spokesman said in a release that the officer got the passenger out of the car and was handcuffing him when the passenger began to struggle with the officer. As the pair struggled, a gun went off, and the shot struck the officer in the leg. Police did not disclose whether the gun belonged to the officer or the passenger.
The passenger continued to struggle with other officers at the scene before being arrested. The other people in the car were detained as the investigation continues.
The officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a leg injury that police said was not life-threatening.
