A police officer in south Alabama has been fired after authorities say he improperly followed a suspect into a neighboring jurisdiction and fired his gun into a moving car without justification.
Mobile Police Chief James Barber announced yesterday that new officer Ivan Lopez was terminated for policy violations committed last weekend.
Barber says Lopez was on a DUI patrol when he followed a driver seen swerving across the center line into the city of Prichard — outside Mobile police's jurisdiction.
The chief says Lopez confronted the driver outside a nightclub in Prichard and when the driver fled in his car, the officer fired at least five gunshots into the vehicle. Barber says other Mobile police officers found the driver Tuesday afternoon. The driver had suffered two minor gunshot injuries to the legs.
Barber says the district attorney and the FBI have been notified.