A
Kansas City, Kan., police officer has been placed on administrative
leave after being accused of firing into an occupied vehicle early
Christmas morning.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they have charged
Michael Mills, 32, with aggravated assault and criminal discharge of a
firearm at an occupied vehicle.

Mills, who was not on duty at the time of the alleged shooting, was arrested and later was released on $25,000 bond.

The
shooting occurred near Mills' home between 1 and 2 a.m. Sunday in a
cul-de-sac in the 3800 block of North 112th Terrace. Mills allegedly
fired into a car with multiple occupants using a .40-caliber
semiautomatic handgun, prosecutors said. No one was hurt. One shot hit
the car's right rear quarter panel and no one is sure where the other
one struck.

A police department spokeswoman said Tuesday that
Mills is on unpaid administrative leave but she declined to say anything
else about the case.

Just what led up to Sunday morning's shooting was not disclosed Tuesday.

Wyandotte
County District Attorney Jerome Gorman said he knew the details of
events, but wasn't ready to reveal them until the case goes to court.

Gorman said it was "more complicated and complex" than Mills just opening fire.

"He was made aware of a situation by somebody else and took some action based upon that," Gorman said.

Earlier
this year, Mills was tangled up in an FBI sting operation of the Kansas
City, Kan., Police Department's SWAT team but he was never charged.
Mills was among 10 people who were held as part of the federal
investigation into alleged thefts during police searches.

Mills
has since joined three other officers in a federal lawsuit that they
filed last week against Wyandotte County's Unified Government, Police
Chief Rick Armstrong and 11 other officers.

Mills and the other
officers are accusing the Unified Government and the police department
of unlawful arrest and detention, excessive use of force, assault and
battery. The four officers contend that the police department searched
and detained them without probable cause, as well as other accusations
listed in their 10-count lawsuit.

All four of the officers were
placed on leave last Jan. 5. Mills was able to return to work after a
month but couldn't go back to the tactical police unit because he hurt
his shoulder when he was arrested, according to court documents.

Three other officers involved in the sting were charged with stealing while serving a search warrant.