Off-duty Colton police officer dies after accidentally shooting himself, authorities say
An off-duty Colton police officer died Thursday after accidentally shooting himself, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.
The officer, identified as Lorenzo Morgan, contacted dispatchers sometime before 2:46 p.m. and told them he had accidentally shot himself and was on the side of the road in his vehicle on National Trails Highway in Oro Grande.
San Bernardino County deputies responded to the scene and found Morgan with a gunshot to a “lower extremity,” the department said.
He died after being taken to a hospital.
A gang member was caught smuggling drugs into Los Angeles County’s main jail. He was, authorities say, just one cog in the Mexican Mafia’s lucrative operation in the county jails.
“No foul play is suspected in the shooting, and it is believed this was a tragic accident,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
The department did not say how the incident occurred or whether the gun involved was Morgan’s service weapon.
Morgan graduated from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department academy in 2019 and completed his field training with the Colton Police Department in May.
Morgan is survived by his fiancee and a son, with another child on the way, Colton police said.
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