A Connersville, Ind. police chief accidentally shot himself in the leg while doing some shopping at a gun store on Saturday, the Indianapolis Star reported.
“I need to pay more attention,” David Counceller said. “I know what the dangers are. It was pure carelessness on my part.”
Counceller, who was off-duty at the time, was comparing his 40-caliber Glock handgun with a newer model at Wullf’s Gun Shop. The trouble began when he began to holster his weapon.
“It got tangled in my clothing,” he added, as quoted by the Star. “I was wearing a sweatshirt and a fleece jacket. I felt (the gun) go in the holster and I pushed it, but it was tangled in the material which caused it to discharge. The bullet went into my leg and then into the floor.”
Counceller said he drove himself to an area hospital, where nurses who attended to his flesh wound thought he was joking about the incident. Mayor Leonard Urban also thought he was the victim of a joke.
“It was just a little accident. Dave is an excellent marksman,” he said on Monday, according to the Star.
It turns out Counceller had accidentally shot himself once before, 15 years ago.
“I was working third shift as a captain. I was unloading (the gun) to take it to the gunsmith and I didn’t drop the barrel to see if there was (a bullet) in the chamber,” he said, per the Star. “The shot hit my hand. That one really hurt.”
