The undercover Albuquerque PD officer who was shot by a lieutenant earlier this month broke his cover and revealed himself as a police officer to a drug trafficking suspect that had produced a pellet gun, which looked like a real firearm, reports the Albuquerque Journal.

An Albuquerque police lieutenant shot Detective Jacob Grant during an undercover operation near Central and Tramway on Jan. 9. Grant is still in critical condition at University of New Mexico Hospital and has not been interviewed by investigators, but police released additional information about the case Tuesday.

Police spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said Grant broke his cover moments before the shooting.

"While working in an undercover capacity, the main reason an officer breaks cover is to protect themselves or the other officers involved," she said. "This is a rare circumstance and investigators will not be able to confirm yet if this is why Detective Grant chose to break his cover."

Grant was shot after he and another undercover officer attempted to buy $60 worth of methamphetamine from two suspects, Damian Bailey and Edmond Vester. When they were making the drug purchase, one of the suspects pulled out a pellet gun, according to police.

A picture of the gun provided by police shows that it is entirely black and doesn’t have an orange-colored tip, which is on most pellet guns.

Related:

Albuquerque Undercover Officer Critically Wounded in Blue-on-Blue Shooting