A Greenwood man shot himself while cleaning a gun late last week.
Police responded just before midnight Friday to the 80 block of Westridge Boulevard on the report of a person shot. While en route, dispatch notified them the victim was already at Community Hospital South, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
At the house, a relative said the victim had shot himself by accident, likely in the garage. Police searched the garage, but could not establish an impact point in any of the walls or the floor, and due to several empty casings on the floor, were unable to determine which one was related to the incident, according to the report.
It appeared the victim loaded his own ammunition, indicated by the large amount of empty casings found throughout the garage, which was disheveled and disorganized making it difficult to investigate the shooting, police said.
Police determined the round had not exited the home, the report showed.
Police then responded to Community Hospital South and spoke with the victim, who said he was in the garage cleaning his weapons. He had completed most of his cleaning, and was about to clean his last weapon, a .45 pistol. He was clearing the gun when it discharged into his left hand. He immediately called for his wife to take him to the hospital, he told police.
A three-year-old child was inside the home at the time of the incident. The Department of Child Services was notified, according to the report.
