An off-duty corrections officer’s gun accidentally discharged Saturday at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. restaurant, resulting in minor injuries for at least nine people, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Miami-Dade Corrections Officer Marcus Leon Thompson told police his Glock 9mm firearm, which he kept unholstered in his right pants pocket, went off when he reached into the pocket for money and a valet ticket at Shooters Waterfront Cafe. The bullet then hit the base of a table, fragmented and ricocheted.
Police said Thompson left the restaurant after the incident and gave one of the servers, Jason Van Niekerk, $100 with his bill. Niekerk told police he went outside to tell Thompson to wait for police once customers, some of whom were hit and by the bullet fragments and hadn’t realized it, became aware of what happened inside.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, the police report said most of the injured either felt a burning sensation or had small cuts from bullet fragments, while one 79-year-old tourist had been taken to a local medical center with a small fragment in her buttocks. Police were still investigating the incident.
