Assistant Lubbock Police Chief Jon Caspell confirmed Sunday afternoon that an apparent negligent discharge of an officer's firearm during a police pursuit Sunday morning is under investigation.

No injuries were reported in the incident that Caspell said happened as an officer tried to gain access to a backyard while pursuing a man who fled from a reported domestic disturbance in Southwest Lubbock.

It came less than a week after Lubbock police Chief Greg Stevens confirmed he closed the department's firing range due to two other negligent discharge incidents over the past several weeks.

On Sunday, Lubbock police responded to a call around 10 a.m. about a domestic disturbance in the 5400 block of 79th Street, Caspell said during a news conference Sunday afternoon at the downtown police station.

A man, who was later identified as 19-year-old D'morea Robison, was reportedly intoxicated at the scene.

He allegedly told people on the scene, who were identified as Robison's family members, that he was armed with a gun, and that he threatened to kill everybody there. Caspell said Robison's family told police and dispatchers that they did not see a gun, but they did see ammunition.

"It is also our understanding that he previously assaulted a family member before LPD arrived on the scene," Caspell said, "and was out of control enough to where other family members had to pepper spray him to try and control him before officers arrived."

He said when officers arrived on the scene that Robison ran from officers into the neighbhorhood.

Caspell said that LPD had every reason to believe Robison was armed, although it was not clear by Sunday afternoon if he did have a weapon.

He said officers immediately gave chase, but that they did lose Robison in the neighborhood.

Police set up a perimeter and officers conducted a house-to-house search looking for Robison.

"The reason we felt we needed to do this," Caspell said, "was a person that we believed was armed and a threat to the public. Not only that, but a threat to [Robison's] family."

After about an hour, Caspell said, police found Robison in the backyard of a residence in the 5500 block of 78th Street.

He said the officer was in the front part of the property and he felt like he needed to get immediate access to the backyard through the side gate.

He said the officer drew his firearm and it was in his hand when he tried to get through the gate.

He said dispatch received a call of shots fired by LPD just after 11:15 a.m.

"This is the potential for a very dangerous situation," Caspell said.

He said one shot was fired, and the bullet went into the fence at a downward angle.

There were no injuries reported during the incident.

"This is a situation where this is out in public where we have an officer that has fired a round off," Caspell said. "Negligent, intentional, or otherwise, we take this very seriously because we absolutely have to. This is something that should not have happened."

Sunday's incident following two other recent cases of negligent discharge is raising red flags within the police department, Caspell said.

"This is a very different situation than those," Caspell said. "The other ones appear to have been in training environments, and maybe related to some method of how often [officers] were handling their firearms. We do not believe this is what has happened here."

Last Monday, Stevens hosted a news conference regarding the previous cases.

"We don't look at it from the standpoint of an 'accidental discharge'," Stevens said at the time. "We look at it from more of a culpable mental state of negligence."

Use of the department's shooting range facility, including for training purposes, has been postponed after the two incidents occurred when two officers' duty weapons discharged during the break-down and cleaning process following training.

Caspell said that everybody in the department will be re-trained before the firing range opens back up.

"We're doing everything we can in this situation," Caspell said. "We do everything that we can as safely as possible."

He said two investigations are underway following Sunday's incident. One is the criminal investigation involving Robison based on the domestic disturbance. The second one is an administrative investigation that will focus on the officer's actions at the scene, the response of the command staff, and the apparent negligent discharge.

Robison was taken to the Lubbock County Detention Center and was booked on charges of domestic assault, criminal trespassing, evading on foot, and making a terroristic threat.

No officers have been placed on administrative leave at this time.

erica.pauda@lubbockonline.com

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