A rookie Prince George’s County police officer was seriously wounded Wednesday after she accidentally shot herself in the stomach while trying to respond to a call for help from a friend, police said.

       The officer, whom officials did not name, underwent surgery and is recovering.

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       At a news conference outside the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center in Largo, Police Chief Malik Aziz told reporters that the officer has been on the force for about a year and on the streets just a few months. She is assigned to the Bureau of Patrol, he said.

       “Please keep her and her family in your prayers,” Aziz said.

       The officer was off duty and in the Upper Marlboro area when she got a call from a friend that there was a “crime in progress” at a home in the 3100 block of Squire Road, officials said. The officer began driving to the home in her personal vehicle and called 911 to request additional help, Aziz said, then stopped her car once she arrived in the neighborhood.

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       The chief said the department is still working to determine exactly what happened next, but the early investigation shows that the officer’s service weapon accidentally discharged as she was trying to retrieve it.

       She was struck once in the abdomen, Aziz said.

       The department is interviewing “other parties involved” in the incident, including another person in the officer’s car who may have witnessed the accidental shooting. Aziz said he had not yet spoken to the injured officer.

       He praised her instincts, though, saying she followed her training by quickly responding and alerting her colleagues that she needed backup.

       “She did what she was supposed to do,” Aziz said.

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       “Police officers in Prince George’s County are required to carry their weapons at all times,” he added. “We don’t stop being police officers when we’re off duty. We don’t have that luxury.”

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