An investigation has been launched into a Georgia police department after officers reportedly used a photo of a Black man for target practice, and later posted the event on social media.

The training was part of a gun safety class for civilians, hosted Saturday by a police department in Villa Rica, roughly 30 miles west of Atlanta, reports NBC News.

Photos of participants pointing their guns at a life-sized image of a Black man were later shared to the department’s Facebook page.

In the image used for the target, the man is wearing a beanie and pointing a firearm.

Screenshots of the post have been shared widely and criticized across social media, and the original post has since been removed from Facebook.

The Villa Rica Police Department addressed the criticism in a separate post on Wednesday, saying, “It was never our intention to be insensitive, inflammatory or offensive to anyone.”

The department added that it values the “honest opinions of our fellow citizens” and apologized for “any offense we may have caused.”

Michael Mansour, Villa Rica’s chief of police, said the targets shown in the post are commonly used throughout the state for training purposes.

He pointed out that other targets of white and Asian people were also used in the safety class, but the officer who posted the images to social media mistakenly posted the Black targets, and none of the others.

“It’s just an innocent mistake, but it was a mistake,” Mansour told NBC News. “And I’m very transparent in saying that we messed up.”

“But at no time will I accept people telling me I’m a racist, or our department is a racist because we made a mistake,” he added.

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