Naval Medical Center Security Personnel Shoot Man Who Drove Past Gate

Reports Of Shots Fired At San Diego Naval Medical Center

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man who drove past a gate at Naval Medical Center San Diego in the Balboa Park area was injured when security personnel fired a shot at the man's charging dog, but missed, and the bullet instead grazed his ankle, authorities said today.

The bizarre series of events happened around 8:45 p.m. Monday near the Naval hospital's main gate at Bob Wilson Drive off Florida Drive, according to Navy officials.

A man behind the wheel of a pickup truck approached the gate, but did not stop when directed by a security officer, Navy Region Southwest spokesman Brian O'Rourke said in a statement. The security team then deployed security barriers to prevent the driver from accessing the base.

The driver made a U-turn and stopped his vehicle near the sentry point before getting out “in an agitated state” and yelling at the security officer, O'Rourke said.

When the man opened the door, his dog jumped out of the vehicle and ran toward security officers.

“A security officer fired one shot at the dog, which missed, grazing the civilian's ankle,” O'Rourke said.

The man, whose age was not immediately available, was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and San Diego Animal Control officers arrived to take custody of the dog, who was uninjured, O'Rourke said.

United States Department of Defense police officers and uniformed Navy personnel guard the gates to the medical center, but it was not immediately clear who fired the shot.

Navy officials were investigating the incident.

Photo: Getty Images


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