Oct. 30--WEST PALM BEACH -- A city police officer shot and wounded one man during an undercover drug operation that went awry Monday afternoon.
It was the third officer-involved shooting for West Palm Beach police this year and the 12th overall for local law enforcement agencies. Police Chief Vince Demasi described the man who was shot as being in "critical but stable condition" at St. Mary's Medical Center.
City police declined to release the officer's name Monday night. Demasi said the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation and a review by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.
Two other men were arrested in the incident, which happened shortly before 2 p.m. behind the Holiday Inn hotel in the 1300 block of Belvedere Road, just west of Interstate 95.
City police had just started the operation when the suspects pulled out weapons and "tried to rob our officers," Demasi said. None of the officers were injured.
The shooting was the first involving city police since July 1, when an officer shot and wounded a 20-year-old man during a confrontation at the Woodstock Apartments on North Congress Avenue.
In March, a West Palm Beach police officer shot and killed 28-year-old Marcus Neloms III during an exchange of gunfire in the parking lot of the Springbrook Commons apartment complex, near 45th Street and Haverhill Road.
"My preference would be we didn't have any," said Demasi, who was sworn in as chief in August.
He called the number of situations locally where officers have found themselves dealing with people brandishing weapons to be troubling. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has had seven officer-involved cases this year, while Riviera Beach police and Boynton Beach police have had one each. The people who were shot died in five of the sheriff's cases and in both the Riviera and Boynton Beach cases.
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