GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A South Carolina sheriff did not mince words when describing an incident in which two deputies were shot and injured during a training exercise.

“I want to be very clear, this incident should have never happened,” said Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis. “Multiple breakdowns in safety protocol, ammunition handling, training procedures led to two of our deputies being injured.”

Lewis held a press conference Wednesday to address a July SWAT training that ended when two deputies were hit by a breaching round from a shotgun.

One deputy, Lewis said, was struck in the groin area resulting in a severed artery. The other deputy was hit under his arm. One of the injured deputies required emergency surgery; both are expected to make a full recovery.

The training took place on July 29 in a vacant building in Greenville. According to Lewis, while preparing for a scenario, a deputy was tasked with getting blank 12-gauge shotgun rounds. The deputy, along with another deputy assigned to the training center, acquired a “baggie” of breaching rounds, which are normally used to break through windows or doors. Lewis said the the deputies thought the breaching rounds were blanks from a desk drawer.

The deputies who took the rounds tested them by firing them into a berm from too far away to determine if the rounds were actually blanks.

When the training scenario began, another deputy, playing the role of an armed individual, fired one of the breaching rounds at deputies, striking two. Lewis said the deputies realized they were bleeding and the scenario immediately ended. Both deputies were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The sheriff’s office launched an investigation into the accident, and Lewis said changes are being implemented to prevent another incident from happening again.

Lewis later clarified all ammunition used by deputies is supposed to be kept in an armory maintained by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. Live and simulation ammunition are normally kept separate from one another and are clearly marked.

No shotguns are being used in training while the investigation is ongoing.

Lewis said disciplinary action will be taken against those involved once the investigation concludes.