Indiana Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Wife While Cleaning Personal Gun At Home

An off-duty police officer in Indiana accidentally shot his wife while cleaning his gun. The incident took place Wednesday (April 15).

According to a news release from the Edinburgh Police Department, officers responded to a home around 5.10 p.m. and found the unidentified 33-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her leg. The woman was rushed to a local hospital for treatment. She was listed stable.

Investigation revealed that an off-duty Edinburgh police officer accidentally discharged his personal gun while cleaning it, injuring his wife.

Damian Katt, investigations division commander at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, said that the incident appeared to be a case of accidental shooting and that the officer, with three years experience, “did not know there was a round in the chamber.”

Meanwhile, Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little said the unidentified officer was not taken into custody; however, he will have to complete additional training. He added that all the police officers are required to complete 40 hours of training in addition to training by a local officer. Chief Little said the officer is not facing any disciplinary action.

He added the police officers are trained to be careful while cleaning guns and to ensure the weapons are not loaded.

“Unfortunately it happens. We are trained to check the weapon. Apparently he must have missed that,” he said. Investigation into the incident was ongoing.

The incident comes less than a month after a man in Missouri accidentally shot his 8-year-old son after gun safety lessons. The father, identified as 45-year-old Phillip Lumas Sr., gave gun safety lessons to his two children after they grew curious about his weapons. After winding up the lesson, he started carrying out routine maintenance of the weapon. Suddenly, the gun got accidentally discharged, striking his son in the chest. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was listed stable. Meanwhile, the father was taken into custody and charged with domestic assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Local reports said that the father was visibly distressed and kept apologizing during the interrogation.