An Alabama police officer staged a shooting last month to make it look like he was under attack, a police chief said Thursday.
Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said that Officer Keith Buchanan made a distress call early July 21 while patrolling an isolated area. Shots could be heard in the background, and an abandoned police car was later found with a bullet hole. He was later found moaning on the ground.
The police chief said investigators determined the event was staged after they, "found nothing to support the officer's account of this incident."