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BPD: Officer Accidentally Shoots Himself During Investigation

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- City police say an officer accidentally shot himself in the hand during a carjacking investigation Wednesday night in South Baltimore.

Original reports had said that the officer was shot in Cherry Hill, but further investigation revealed the officer's gunshot wound was accidental and self-inflicted.

According to police spokesperson T.J. Smith, prior to the shooting, three armed suspects carjacked a vehicle on Gittings Street in the Federal Hill area. Two women were inside the vehicle at the time of the incident. They were not injured.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says officers were able to track the stolen SUV to a well known area where these vehicles are usually discovered.

"When our carjacking victim was attacked in Federal Hill and her car was taken, the Southern District patrol officers and detectives did a fantastic job of deploying in this area because they know based on recent patterns and trends that carjacked vehicles have been taken to this area after carjackings," Davis said.

The commissioner says CCTV cameras tracked the carjacked vehicle to the Cherry Hill area, which prompted a timely response by two plain clothes detectives traveling in an unmarked car.

When detectives approached the vehicle, the officer--a 15-year veteran of the force--mistakenly discharged his weapon. He is expected to survive.

Police say they have three persons of interest in the carjacking in custody. Some are juveniles.

Anyone with any information is asked to call police.

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