"We are here to advise you that that shooting was unfortunately a hoax," Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said during a Tuesday night press conference.
Bucks County authorities say they quickly had concerns 30-year-old Chalfont Borough Police Officer Jon Cousin was lying when he reported he'd been shot in the line of duty early Monday morning.
"It's just a sixth sense you have after all the time I've spent in this business; when I appeared on the scene, the numbers weren't adding up," Chalfont Police Chief Frank Campbell said.
A website posted audio of a Bucks County police radio call claiming it to be Officer Cousin to dispatch as the alleged shooting unfolded.
Excerpts from the call:
Officer Cousin: "I'm at the Lenape Valley Swim Club. There'll be a Cutlass Ciera. No tags displayed. Three or four occupants."
Officer Cousin: "It's maroon in color. Get back in the car!"
Officer Cousin: "I've been hit in the chest. I think my vest stopped it. Dispatch, get a medic here please."
According to Officer Cousin's story, at around 3:15 a.m. Monday, he spotted a vehicle parked parked by the Lenape Valley Swim Club on Westview Avenue.
Cousin said he was then quickly confronted as he exited his squad car and started approaching the vehicle.
Cousin told fellow officers the driver of the vehicle jumped out the car and he told the suspect to get back in.
At that time, Cousin said, a passenger came out of the vehicle and shot him in chest, hitting the Kevlar Vest beneath his uniform.
Cousin was taken to Abington Memorial Hospital where he was admitted in stable condition and later discharged.
DA Heckler says Cousin's fired his .45 caliber pistol three times, but says the rest of the story is a lie.
He said a number of red flags quickly surfaced.
Only three shell casings were found at the scene, all from Cousin's service weapon and the 3-year veteran of the force had no bruise, despite alleging he'd been shot at close range.
District Attorney Heckler says there was other damning evidence at the scene.
"There seems to be no gravel disturbance where the suspect vehicle would have been parked and then driven away from the scene," Heckler said.
Detectives say they learned Cousin had a license for a .380 Ruger pistol.
Cousin turned it over to investigators and ballistic tests on the slug in his service vest turned up a match.
"I think all the evidence suggests he would have done this at some remote location at another time," Heckler said.
Authorities are not sure why the young father of four, including baby triplets, would allegedly stage his own shooting.
They will recommend a psychological evaluation when he his formally charged in this case.
