On March 14, 2018 at 3:42 a.m., the Atwater Police Department responded to an alleged shooting incident in the area of Bell Drive and Applegate Blvd. in Atwater.

Deputies with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office responded to assist in the investigation and learned that a firearm had been negligently discharged from a moving vehicle in several unincorporated areas of the county, specifically the outlying areas of Livingston and Atwater.

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office Detectives Bureau took over the investigation and learned that a Merced Police officer identified as Lance O’Brien and a Merced Police dispatcher identified as Grace Gordon had negligently discharged a firearm from a vehicle they were both occupying.

Two other citizens were also in the vehicle at the time, but the investigation indicates they did not discharge a firearm.

O’Brien and Gordon were contacted at their homes during the investigation and placed under arrest for the violation of California penal code section 246.3, willful negligent discharge of a firearm in a gross negligent manner. They were both booked into the Merced County Sheriff’s Office Jail.

No other details will be released at this time due to the ongoing investigation.