Officer Heather Seddon

A San Diego police officer wounded in the neck during a pursuit and shootout in May was hit by “friendly fire,” or a shot fired by another officer, the department has confirmed.

Officer Heather L. Seddon was struck once in the neck on May 17 during a pursuit and shootout that ended with the death of Dennis R. Fiel, 34. He was a suspect in a series of shootings at buildings in Kearny Mesa, including two instances in which San Diego Gas & Electric offices were hit.

Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said in response to inquiries about the shooting from The San Diego Union-Tribune that the bullet that struck Seddon might have been a ricochet during the confrontation with Fiel, but that could not be fully proven.


The investigation by the department’s homicide unit, which investigates all officer-involved shootings, concluded the shot came from a police weapon.

“The results of the lengthy and thorough investigation revealed the round that struck officer Seddon was fired by a San Diego police officer that was actively engaged in an exchange of gunfire with Fiel,” Zimmerman said.

The department had not previously disclosed that Seddon’s wound was the result of fire from another officer. At the time, a department statement did not address who fired the bullet that hit Seddon.

“When officers approached him,” the May 17 news release said, “a foot chase took place and the male produced a gun and fired at the officers. One San Diego police officer chasing the subject was shot in her upper torso. Other officers at the scene rendered medical aid to the downed officer and ultimately transported her to a nearby hospital where she is listed in stable condition.


An officer-involved shooting not far from the intersection of Mesa College Drive and Health Center Drive occurred Sunday morning leaving a suspect dead. An investigator walks near the shooting scene just off the 163 at Mesa College Drive. (John Gastaldo)

“Two San Diego police officers fired several rounds at the suspect and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.”

A second account in the July issue of the San Diego Police Officers Association newsletter described the shooting, also without mentioning whose bullet hit Seddon.

The fact that Seddon was shot by one of the officers surfaced in court papers filed Friday by Lt. Natalie Stone, who is suing the department. She is alleging that she suffered retaliation after she complained about the hostile and abusive behavior of a captain.


Stone said that she was criticized by her superiors for an incident stemming from the Seddon shooting.

SDG&E was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the person shooting up its buildings. Police were not eligible.

Stone said she contacted the San Diego Police Foundation, a nonprofit that supplies equipment to the department, to see if the reward could be diverted through the foundation to pay for tourniquets and anti-clotting equipment for patrol officers who become wounded.

She said she was told the request embarrassed the department. She added in court papers that she didn’t know when she contacted the foundation that Seddon had been hit by “friendly fire.”


A five-year veteran, Seddon at the time was working as a field training officer. Around 7:40 a.m. on the day of the shooting, officers saw a Jeep going 90 mph on the south Interstate 805 at state Route 163 and tried to pull it over but lost sight of it when it left the freeway.

The Jeep was later found abandoned near Annrae Street. Police called to the area then saw a man walking near where the Jeep was found. A foot pursuit ensued, and police said Fiel took out a gun and fired.

Two officers fired back, hitting Fiel and – as is now known – Seddon as well. Seddon was tended to by two officers then taken to the hospital in a police vehicle. Fiel died at the scene.

San Diego homicide Lt. Mike Hastings said the investigation concluded Fiel fired several rounds from his weapon before he was killed. Firearms tests concluded his weapon matched the one that was used in building shootings.


The department said Seddon has returned to work.

Friendly fire police shootings, or “blue-on-blue” incidents, are not unheard of, but also do not happen frequently.

In January 2014 a San Francisco transit police sergeant was accidentally shot and killed by a detective during a search of a robbery suspect’s apartment. In January an Albuquerque, N.M undercover officer was wounded by another officer during a narcotics arrest.