A deputy has been put on paid leave in Orange County, California after a video surfaced in which the officer appears to pull a gun on a teenager, according to an official statement.
While no details including the name of the deputy have been released, an internal investigation has begun authorities were quoted as saying on Wednesday by the Orange County Register.
A video of the incident reported to have occurred on October 12 shows a man wearing a baseball cap having an off-duty confrontation with a teenage boy kneeling in front of the man with his arms in the air. A voice in the background is heard saying that the man has a gun. The deputy also flashes a badge.
The teenagers who saw the confrontation told Fox 11 that the law enforcer in his civil uniform approached the group over playing loud music.
"It was probably like three seconds he had (the gun) out and everyone just froze and was in shock," a teenager was quoted as saying.
The deputy in question is heard saying that the teenager is "lucky he didn't get shot".
"When a kid raises his skateboard to hit me in the face, he's lucky he didn't get shot," the deputy tells another man who is shown standing with the teenagers in the video.
The incident comes months after a Utah police officer pulled a gun on a 10-year-old boy during a pursuit of armed robbery. An official statement released by the Woods Cross Police Chief on June 9 defended the officer as a 'mistake' in identification as multiple reports of the suspects' race and ethnicity were received. Authorities said the officer used "good judgement overall."
