Philadelphia Police: Sgt. Robert Ralston Lied About Being Shot by a Black Man

(May 12) -- A white Philadelphia police sergeant is being fired after confessing that he shot himself on purpose and fabricated a story about being shot by a black man, authorities say.

Police don't know why Sgt. Robert Ralston, 46, a father of five and 21-year veteran of the department, would hurt himself.

Philadelphia Police Department

Sgt. Robert Ralston confessed that his April 5 gunshot wound was self-inflicted, police said.

"He did not give a reason for doing that. ... He denied that he was trying to get attention," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said, The Associated Press reported. "He said he first considered shooting himself in the chest, but he thought better of it."

Ralston was suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss, Ramsey said.

He will have to pay for the extensive manhunt that followed his report last month that he was shot but he will not be prosecuted. He would only confess with a promise of immunity, Ramsey said, according to media reports.

The case is "a terrible and embarrassing chapter in our history," Ramsey said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Ralston had said he was wconorking in the Overbrook section on April 5 when he stopped two men for questioning. One ran, he said, and the other put a gun to his head. He said he knocked it away but it fired, grazing his shoulder, according to reports, and the man fled.

Police spent hours looking for the men, but nobody was even questioned. Police thought Ralston's story didn't quite add up, and Ramsey noted that gunpowder residue on his shirt matched his service weapon, authorities said.

Ralston said the shooter was black because the neighborhood where he was on patrol was in a predominantly black neighborhood, Ramsey said.

"It's troubling in a lot of ways," Ramsey said, according to the Inquirer. "It inflames racial tensions in our community, and that's certainly something we don't need."

The Fraternal Order of Police, which had offered a $10,000 reward for information on the suspect, condemned Ralston.

"Nobody knows what he was thinking to do something like that," FOP President John McNesby said, according to AP. "He wasted a lot of time, a lot of manpower. It could really stir up a lot of stuff in the city when you don't really need it."

It was not clear if Ralston had a lawyer, and a phone number was listed as non-published.