[9/5/04]An off-duty Vicksburg police officer was shot early Saturday morning by a homeowner who thought he was a burglar.

Officer Cammie Branch, 33, was shot once in the arm and once in the leg through the back door of a home on Park Avenue, said Police Chief Tommy Moffett.

“He and some friends had apparently been out and had been drinking,” Moffett said. “At this point, according to his statement, he ended up at the wrong house and tried to use a key to get in the back door.”

The homeowner called 911 around 3:30 a.m. and told dispatchers that someone was trying to break into the back door. That was when the homeowner fired at least two shots through the back door, wounding Branch.

Branch then went to a nearby home and called for assistance.

Speaking from his hospital bed at River Region Medical Center Saturday afternoon, Branch said it was just a misunderstanding.

“I was trying to get to a friend’s house,” he said.

Moffett said investigators have not determined what type of gun was used because the homeowner had two loaded weapons and both had been fired recently.

He said that charges had not been filed.

Branch has been with the Vicksburg Police Department since 2000, but was deployed with the 114th Military Police company of the Mississippi Nation Guard for two years until his return in January.

He said he expects to be released from the hospital today.

Park Avenue runs between Avenue A and Avenue B off Green Street, near Drummond Street.