Police officer shoots colleague during loaded-gun horseplay in Pasadena, California, United States.

Police officer shoots colleague during loaded-gun horseplay in Pasadena, California, United States.

NEWS:

A Pasadena police officer shot a colleague through the windshield of a patrol car during what the department described as unsafe and prohibited horseplay involving loaded handguns inside its parking garage in Pasadena, California.

The shooting occurred at approximately 00:6:18 p.m. on September 7, 2025, as uniformed patrol officers were loading equipment into their vehicles and preparing to begin their shifts. The Pasadena Police Department released the dashcam footage on June 10, 2026, more than nine months after the incident.

The recording shows a patrol vehicle entering the department’s parking structure at 240 Ramona Street. Two uniformed officers are standing behind a police SUV with its rear hatch open as the approaching vehicle moves toward them.

One of the standing officers suddenly pulls his handgun from its holster and points it directly toward the officer seated behind the wheel of the approaching patrol car. The officer performs the movement quickly, holds the weapon in the vehicle’s direction for several seconds and then returns it to the holster.

The act of drawing and pointing the handgun is directly visible in the recording. The footage does not provide a clear view inside the approaching patrol car and does not show the second officer drawing his weapon.

Police Chief Gene Harris said the officer in the driver’s seat also removed his department-issued handgun and pointed it toward the officer standing near the SUV. The gun then discharged inside the patrol vehicle.

The bullet passed through the front windshield and struck the standing officer in his left shoulder.

Seconds after the first officer reholsters his weapon, the dashcam image jolts and material from the windshield or vehicle becomes visible in front of the camera. The wounded officer immediately grabs his left shoulder, turns away from the patrol car and moves toward the side of the SUV.

Other officers in the garage run toward him. They help him to the ground and begin providing medical assistance. The released dashcam segment contains no useful audio establishing what the officers said before or immediately after the shot.

The wounded officer suffered serious injuries but survived. The department said he completed his recovery and remains employed as a Pasadena police officer. His identity had not been publicly released by June 12.

Harris characterized the conduct as “unsafe and out-of-policy horseplay involving loaded firearms.” The department has not claimed that the officer deliberately intended to shoot his colleague. The exact mental state behind the discharge remains part of the criminal and administrative record rather than something established by the exterior dashcam footage.

The officer who fired the shot was identified as Roy Alatorre. Harris later confirmed that Alatorre was fired from the department. Other statements from the city described him as having separated from municipal employment or as no longer being employed by the city.

The department completed its internal administrative investigation and imposed disciplinary action. It has not publicly released the complete administrative findings, the specific policy violations assigned to each officer or details of any disciplinary action involving the officer who first drew and pointed his handgun.

It also remained unclear whether the wounded officer faced additional discipline for removing his weapon and pointing it at the patrol vehicle. He continues to work for the department, according to the most recent public update.

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo called the officers’ conduct juvenile and unacceptable. He apologized to residents for the behavior and said the chief had assured him that loaded-firearm horseplay would not be tolerated within the department.

The dashcam recording was released under California’s critical-incident transparency requirements. State law generally requires police agencies to publish recordings connected to officer-involved shootings and other qualifying incidents within 45 days.

Harris used a provision allowing the release to be delayed when disclosure could interfere with investigative work. He said the postponement was necessary to protect the investigation and allow detectives to complete essential steps, including reviewing recordings, witness statements, forensic evidence and other material.

The public release occurred approximately nine months after the shooting, well beyond the normal 45-day period. The department did not identify a single investigative step that required the entire nine-month delay, but said the wounded officer’s serious medical condition and the continuing investigation contributed to the decision.

The department’s Robbery-Homicide Unit and Critical Performance Unit reviewed the incident. The criminal investigation and the formal review of the firearm discharge remained pending after the administrative investigation had ended.

Harris said the criminal investigation had been submitted to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for review. He also said California’s law enforcement certification authority had been notified.

The district attorney’s office, however, said on June 11 that it had not yet received a report from Pasadena police. Gordo said on June 12 that the criminal investigation had been turned over to prosecutors. No later public confirmation established when the complete case file was formally delivered or accepted.

No criminal charges had been announced against Alatorre or the wounded officer by June 12. The district attorney’s review will determine whether the available evidence supports prosecution, but the release of the video and the completion of departmental discipline do not constitute a criminal conviction.

The footage directly establishes that one officer removed a handgun and pointed it toward a colleague, that a shot was fired moments later from the approaching patrol car, and that the first officer was struck in the shoulder. The chief’s account supplies the part that is not visible from the dashcam, including Alatorre drawing his weapon inside the vehicle and the bullet passing through the windshield.

The department has not publicly explained whether the handgun discharged because the trigger was deliberately pulled, touched unintentionally or activated during another movement. It has also not released a complete forensic report, firearms examination, interview transcript or unedited recording showing the interior of the patrol car.

News story written by Tifa Winters.