14 DAY TRIAL // A man in Sebring, Florida, has been shot with a 9mm Beretta by his dog, reports say.
35-year-old Gregory Dale Lanier was driving in his Ford 250 pick-up truck, when a bullet hit his leg, on Saturday, February 23. He had just stopped at the Blue Crab restaurant on State Road 17, New York Daily News writes.
It appears he had a 9mm Beretta lying on the floor and it was kicked by his dog. The gun went off and accidentally injured Lanier. The excitable dog was running and “jumping around the truck” and it caused the weapon to discharge.
“His dog kicked his unloaded .380 pistol causing it to fire and the bullet struck his leg. Lanier said he heard boom, saw smoke and felt a burning in his leg,” the police report reads, according to Highlands Today.
When police told Lanier that he was not shot with a .380 pistol, adding that a 9mm Beretta was fired, he appeared completely surprised.
The Florida man has told officers that he believed the gun was not charged when he placed it on the floor. The 9mm had its safety off and a magazine had been inserted into it.
A loaded Marlin rifle with an attached scope and boxes of .243 and .380 ammunition have also been found in his pick-up truck. Next to them were some used casings from the weapons.
The bullet entered Lanier’s left calf, went through his shin and exited the vehicle by breaking through the driver’s side door. The motorist was forced to pull over at a BP gas station and wait for an ambulance.
Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr tells reporters that no arrests have been made in this case, and the dog has not been taken away from its owner.
They have dubbed the shooting an accident and have let Lanier go, with the recommendation that he should better secure his firearms.