BROWNSBURG, Ind. -- A man shot himself several times in what police called a staged assault designed to prove to his friends and ex-girlfriend that he lived a secret life as a gang member.

Brownsburg police said the sordid tale began with a false report from Zachary Booso (pictured), 19, 6News' Renee Jameson reported.

According to police, Booso said he was driving to a friend's house in a Brownsburg neighborhood Saturday when a man flagged him down. He said he stopped at a clubhouse, where the man demanded his wallet and shot him.

Booso phoned a friend and told him he was shot. His friend's father called 911.

Booso's story that someone had shot him four times began to unravel when medics and his mother said his wounds might have been self-inflicted.

When pressed by police, Booso confessed to shooting himself in the cheek, shoulder and thigh with a pellet gun.

"Attacking a major crime as we should, we found that he had possibly made a false report," said Brownsburg police Capt. Jeff Gray.

Police said Booso, a member of the U.S. Navy who is on leave, had a history of prescription drug abuse.

According to officers, Booso told them he did it to try to prove to his friends and ex-girlfriend that he led a secret life as a gang member.

"Nobody believed him, so this was going to … show all of them that he had been involved in a gang," Gray said.

Booso was taken to a hospital and then to jail, where he bonded out the same day. He faces a misdemeanor charge of false informing.