According to reports from E! News, Danny Pino, who plays Detective Nick Amaro, on Law & Order: SVU, will be leaving the show as a series regular.

Pino joined the cast of the popular action drama series in season 13, and said goodbye to his character in a near death experience that took place during the sixteenth season finale of the series.

In the last few minutes of the episode, Detective Amaro was shot in the knee and liver by sex trafficker Johnny D.

After his surgery, he revealed to Olivia and the rest of his colleagues that he would be leaving the New York Police Department and moving to the West Coast where his family is.

In an interview with TV guide, Warren Leight, the executive producer of the show confirmed that Pino's character would no longer be on the show after five seasons.

Apparently, Pino's exit was more about his character's story line than the actor himself. "It's hard because I'm a hoarder and I adore Danny," said Leight. "But we explored a lot of facts about him and the reality is that the anger he's occasionally been unable to control has put him in a bad place at the NYPD. [Benson] is looking for a No. 2 and he wants it -- Finn doesn't want it, Rollins doesn't -- and he got shot down very quickly."

Pino shared a farewell message after the finale episode through Twitter. Law & Order: SVU will be returning to NBC this fall for season seventeen.