On Wednesday night, a black St. Louis officer was shot by his white colleague who "mistook" him for an ordinary black man or suspect in a car theft.

As we reported last week, interim Police Chief Lawrence O'Toole claimed that the off-duty cop was in the line-of-fire while trying to assist at the scene of the crime.

We learned that O'Toole's claims were in fact untrue.

According to FOX 2 Now St. Louis, the Metro Police Department responded to a possible stolen car report which led to a brief car chase. Authorities stopped the car using spike strips and three suspects emerged from the crash and shot at the police at Park Lane and Astra Avenue.

A black unnamed off-duty cop who lived in the area ran out of his home to assist his fellow officers at the site of the crash. That's when the 11-year department vet was told by the on-duty officers to get on the ground. Shortly after the officer identified himself and complied, another colleague recognized him and proceeded to tell him to stand up.

Unfortunately, that was not all that took place that night.

According to a police statement, “At this time, a responding officer (36-year-old white male with over eight years of service) just arriving in the area observed this and fearing for his safety and apparently not recognizing the off-duty officer, discharged a shot, striking the off-duty officer in the arm."

Fearing for his safety? Now, where have we heard THAT before?

The wounded officer has since received treatment in a hospital.

However, the officer's attorney, Rufus J. Tate Jr., is not having it.

"This is the first time that we are aware, that a black professional, in law enforcement, himself being shot and treated as an ordinary black guy on the street. This is a real problem," shared the lawyer with FOX. "In the police report, you have so far, there is no description of threat he received. So we have a real problem with that. But this has been a national discussion for the past two years. There is this perception that a black man is automatically feared."

The officer who shot Tate's client, and six others have been placed on administrative leave.

The St. Louis Police Department has yet to release the identities of the victim and his white counterpart.

The reports also state that one of the suspects was shot in the ankle. An investigation into the incident is pending.

Two of the suspects involved in the car theft and shooting have been arrested. One remains at-large.