I Shot the Sheriff
2002 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin
(19 March 2002, Ohio) "Shots fired, shots fired -- I'm hit," a police chief radioed to headquarters. The 52-year-old officer reported that he'd been shot in the leg during an incident that began as a routine traffic stop.
Confirmed True by Darwin
He had pulled over a rusted Chevrolet missing its license plates, but before he could emerge from his police cruiser, the driver had opened fire and put a bullet through the cruiser's windshield. The suspect then charged the chief, who was shot in the leg during the ensuing struggle.
A statewide manhunt was launched to locate the gunman, described as a white, bearded male, 6' 4" tall and weighing 195 pounds.
One week later, the law enforcement team nabbed their man: the police chief himself, who confessed to fabricating the entire event to hide a blunder. He had accidentally fired his rifle through the windshield of his police car. To cover up that mistake, he drove out to a county road, radioed in for help, and fired his weapon to make it sound like there was trouble at the scene of a traffic stop. Then he accidentally fired his weapon again, striking his own leg.
To inadvertently discharge a weapon once might be considered a simple accident, but twice earns this police chief an Honorable Mention. Had that shot ricocheted... he might have won a Darwin Award instead!
