As the song goes, the sniper would have shot the sheriff not the deputy. Something a law enforcement officer should have remembered before lying to his superiors.

Angel Reinosa, a trainee with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, dramatically claimed over his police radio that a sniper in a nearby apartment building hit him in the shoulder as he walked to his car.

Immediately the department launched a manhunt for the made-up assailant on Wednesday, complete with helicopters. But then the story started to unravel due to a lack of evidence.

“There were many things that didn’t add up,” said LA County Homicide Capt. Kent Wegener. Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon said Reinosa will be fired.