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A Richardson County Sheriff's deputy was fired and arrested Friday after an investigation revealed he lied about a gun-shot wound.

According to a news release from the Richardson County Sheriff’s Office, Joshua Nincehelser was charged with staging the events of June 9, when he reported he had been shot by an unidentified assailant.

Law enforcement agencies spent the next day searching Southeast Nebraska and parts of nearby states, looking for a silver or tan Dodge Neon associated with that morning's reported shooting on County Road 717, a quarter mile west of U.S. 75 and about 5½ miles northeast of Humboldt.

Nincehelser was treated at Bryan West Campus in Lincoln for a shot to his upper left arm.

In a news release issued that day, the Richardson County Sheriff's Office said Nincehelser saw a car stopped on the rural road and approached to offer aid. He was trying to talk to the driver when the person behind the wheel produced a semi-automatic pistol and fired several shots at him, the release said.