Washington, United States – A Memphis man sustained a gunshot wound when his dog accidentally fired a loaded gun by jumping on a bed, police said.
The Memphis Police Department responded to a home in the Frayser neighborhood just before 4 a.m. Monday after receiving reports of an accidental shooting.
According to the victim, he was lying on his bed with a friend when his pit bull puppy, Oreo, jumped onto the bed. The dog's paw got stuck in the gun’s trigger guard, causing the firearm to discharge. The bullet grazed the man’s upper left thigh, police said.
His friend fled the home after the gun went off, taking the firearm with her, the man told police.
Authorities found one spent shell casing on the floor of the front room. The victim was taken to the hospital in noncritical condition.
While gun violence is widespread in the United States, incidents involving animals accidentally firing weapons remain rare.
In a similar case in 2022, a German shepherd stepped on a hunting rifle, fatally shooting a 30-year-old man in Kansas. In 2018, a pit bull-Labrador mix in Iowa accidentally shot its owner in the leg.
The victim’s girlfriend, who was not named, described Oreo as a playful dog and said the incident was purely accidental.
Her takeaway from the ordeal? "Keep the safety on or use a trigger lock."
(Sources: Agence France-Presse, NBC News, WMC of Memphis)