This can’t be good for his campaign: A Connersville, Ind., police chief who’s running for sheriff of Fayette County was shopping at a local gun store when he shot himself in the leg by accident.
Police Chief David Counceller said he was trying to put his 40-caliber Glock back into his holster, and it went off, Mediaite reported.
“It got tangled in my clothing,” he said of his gun, Mediaite reported. “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.”
The sheriff-hopeful admitted he was being careless.
“I need to pay more attention,” Chief Counceller said, in an Indianapolis Star report. “I know what the dangers are. It was pure carelessness on my part.”
He drove himself to a hospital, where doctors informed him it was just a flesh wound to his upper thigh. The police chief returned to work on Tuesday, Mediaite said.
“If anyone says this could never happen to them, they’re mistaken,” he said. “You have to keep your guard up at all times. Some candidates are out there doing things for kids to try to get elected. Me, I shoot myself. What a way to get publicity.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.