Pasadena, Calif. — Bang! One Pasadena police officer is lucky to be alive after a pair of fellow cops turned a department parking garage into a reckless playground, complete with drawn handguns and zero regard for basic gun safety.
Surveillance video released Wednesday shows the jaw-dropping moment on Sept. 7, 2025, inside the Pasadena PD parking structure at 240 Ramona Street. Two officers are goofing around by an open SUV trunk when a patrol car pulls up. One cop, acting like it's all a big joke, whips out his service pistol and points it straight at the arriving officer.
The officer behind the wheel, reportedly a female cop, draws her own weapon in a flash and fires. The bullet rips through the patrol car's windshield before slamming into the shoulder of the officer who started the stunt. Chaos erupts as the "horseplay" turns bloody in seconds.
Pasadena Police Chief Gene Harris slammed the stunt as "unsafe, out-of-policy horseplay involving loaded firearms" that "did not reflect the department's standards or expectations.""The shooting resulted from officers engaged in unsafe and out-of-policy horseplay," Harris said in the critical incident briefing. The wounded officer was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries but has since made a full recovery. No members of the public were hurt.
The department hasn't named the clowns involved, but disciplinary action has already been taken. The case is still under internal review and being probed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Social media exploded with outrage, and plenty of dark jokes."Only the police should have guns!" one user quipped sarcastically. Others pointed out the obvious: If regular civilians pulled this stunt, they'd be in handcuffs facing felony charges, not "horseplay" memos and paid leave.
The video, captured from the dashboard of the arriving patrol car, shows the officers laughing and messing around moments before the gunshot. One has their hands on their hips near the open trunk; the other suddenly goes for his holster like it's quick-draw hour at the OK Corral.
Pasadena taxpayers are left wondering how "trained professionals" who carry guns every day could treat deadly weapons like props in a bad comedy sketch. Basic firearm rules — treat every gun as loaded, never point at anything you don't intend to destroy, apparently went out the window in the cop shop garage.
Chief Harris called it exactly what it was: completely unacceptable. But in blue-city California, where crime is often an afterthought and accountability feels optional, don't hold your breath for real consequences.
Are the officers back on the job? The public may never know. But one thing's clear: In the Pasadena PD parking lot, horseplay can get you shot — by your own side.
