Officer who claims he was ambushed actually shot himself, gets arrested

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A police officer in Louisiana in the United States, who claimed he was ambushed and shot turned out to have actually shot himself, police investigations found.

John Goulart Jr., 25, of the Pineville Police Department, claimed he was attacked last Sunday, Sept. 20, while he was at a shopping center, as per KALB-TV on Sept. 21.

Police said Goulart Jr. reported that he was shot once in the leg and that another bullet hit his police car’s rear door. Police chief Don Weatherford noted that they initially had no reason to question this claim, although further investigation proved otherwise.

“As it progressed, that evidence gives you some pretty clear direction and it led us to re-interviewing officer Goulart Jr. and he admitted at that point that he had not been truthful with us during the investigation,” he was quoted as saying.

Goulart Jr. has been charged with one count of criminal mischief for filing the false police report and one count of malfeasance in office for committing the falsehood while in police uniform, according to the report.

The officer has since been placed on administrative leave. He was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center, but he was released around an hour later on a $10,500 (around P510,000) bond, as per The Town Talk on Sept. 22. Ian Biong /ra

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