‘Attack’ on a Police Car Turns Out to Be Just a Shot in the Dark

The bulletin issued by Seal Beach police Tuesday morning urgently sought the public’s help in finding “whoever fired at least two shots at a passing police car.” Luckily, it advised, the officer had not been hit.

But within hours, police withdrew their request. The bullet holes in the police car door, it seemed, were more than a few days old. They had been there since the car was parked at a shooting range last week, where a few wayward bullets hit it.

The series of errors began when an unidentified police officer driving north on the San Diego Freeway near Valley View Street thought he heard two shots fired at the passenger door about 11:20 p.m.

Police searched the area but found no shooters, and issued an appeal for witnesses.

Later, Lt. Kenneth Mollohon said, Seal Beach police had doubts about the shooting incident and investigated further after they heard conflicting reports. They eventually discovered that the officer didn’t hear gunshots, as first reported.

It was then determined that a few bullets had struck the car at a shooting range, but not all the officers in the department had heard about that, Mollohon said.

The officer “didn’t even realize the holes were there in the first place, so he thought they occurred that night,” Mollohon said.

“It’s really a report that shouldn’t have gotten out in the first place,” he added. “We are at this point trying to clarify what really happened now. It’s really embarrassing for the department.”