LAPD detectives are skeptical of Los Angeles School Police Officer Jeffrey Stenroos' claims that he accidentally shot himself and then blamed the incident on a fake assailant, sources have told the Los Angeles Times.

One source said the bruising on Stenroos' chest -- from where a bullet apparently hit his protective vest -- appears to be inconsistent with a typical gunshot at close range. Though the officer has said the gun went off outside El Camino Real High School, detectives are not convinced, the sources said.

Stenroos was booked last week on suspicion of making a false police report in connection with the alleged hoax that shut down seven square miles of the west San Fernando Valley. Police spent days searching for a parolee whom they believed shot the officer. Then suspicion began to fall on Stenroos.

The law-enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was open, said Stenroos had given several contradictory accounts of exactly what happened. Detectives, they said, are still trying to determine whether the shooting was an accident or in some way connected to Stenroos' professional or personal life.