Photo: KABC-TV
He made the whole thing up.
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Written on Aug 26, 2019
The police are supposed to serve and protect, but in the United States, many people don't feel safe enough around the police to approach them, even if the situation is extremely dire. A sheriff's deputy trainee in Lancaster, California (a suburb of Los Angeles) didn't help matters much after what he did last week. Who is Angel Reinosa? He's the would-be law enforcement officer who claimed that he was shot at twice by a sniper while he was standing in the sheriff's office parking lot. His claims were recently disproven, here's what we know about his bizarre antics.
1. Meet Angel Reinosa
Last week, an L.A. County Sherrif's deputy reported something truly shocking. Angel Reinosa, 21, claimed that on Wednesday, August 21st, he was shot by a sniper while he was in the Sheriff station's parking lot. Needless to say, when the word got out about Angel's alleged brush with death, people couldn't stop talking about finding the sniper and taking them down before they could hurt anyone else. Angel, who was still a trainee for the Sherrif's office, said that the sniper's bullet came so close to him that it actually grazed his shoulder, a report that sent authorities on a serious chase for the culprit.
2. What His Future Holds
While the police got on the case hunting down the would-be assassin, traffic in the area had to be diverted for bystander safety, and the entire building had to be evacuated just to be on the safe side. The police spent hours hunting for the sniper, but in the end, all they managed to walk out of the building carrying was a pellet gun: Angel Reinosa was lying about a sniper. Now, according to Captain Kent Wegener, in the homicide bureau, Reinosa isn't just going to lose his job, he's could even go to jail. “There was no sniper, no shots fired, and no gunshot injury sustained to his shoulder ― completely fabricated,” Wegener said at a news conference called to discuss the events.
3. Reinosa's Bizarre Statement
Believe it or not, even as the rigorous manhunt for a crazed gunman was taking place, Reinosa already confessed to Wegener and other authorities that the story he fed them wasn't the truth. He revealed that the holes appearing in his uniform weren't from stray bullets, instead, he simply cut himself up with a knife. Reinosa had to confess when he was called to an interview with detectives to help verify his story and the officers gathered took notice of the fact that the man had no apparent injuries. When cornered, Reinosa was vague. “Much of his statement was self-serving, didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Wegener.
4. Confusion The Day Of
According to those authorities who rushed to give Reinosa help when he claimed to be shot on Wednesday, Reinosa alleged that the gunman was positioned in an open window located on the 4th floor of an apartment building that was adjacent to the parking lot. He claimed that the gunshots came as he was making his way to his car. Even the mayor of Lancaster, California was informed that the only reason the deputy trainee even survived was because of his bulletproof vest. “The wound was minor and he’s been treated and he’s doing well, in high spirits,” said sheriff’s Captain Todd Weber on the day the news broke. But it wasn't long before Reinosa's story started to unravel.
5. Trouble Almost Instantly
Apparently, the authorities were suspicious of the guy long before Reinosa decided to open his mouth. They started worrying that he was feeding them a fake story almost as soon as he got to the emergency room. Why? Because he didn't actually present any real injuries to treat! That, of course, didn't jive with Reinosa's story that he had taken one bullet while another only just managed to whisk past his head. Of course, it didn't too long before the officers gathered began to compare notes and they rapidly determined that Reinosa wasn't being honest.
6. Early Suspicions And Fake Injuries
Apparently, one officer at the hospital reportedly said, "this isn't adding up," to a local news reporter on the scene! You know they won't speak out against their own unless there's something seriously amiss. On Saturday, the police had to issue a press conference to let the public know the truth behind Reinosa's claims. Or at any rate, as much of the truth as they managed to figure out. The lack of injuries, lack of recovered bullets at the scene, total lack of eyewitnesses and a thorough review of the surveillance footage of the parking lot made it clear that for Reinosa, the jig is up.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.