A dog has been saddled with the blame, though not formally charged, after a man was “grazed” by a bullet from a gun he says was accidentally fired by his canine companion.
Police in Memphis, Tennessee have shared limited information on the incident, which has garnered headlines attention both locally and nationally since its occurrence at the top of the week. When reached for comment by Complex on Tuesday, a rep for the Memphis Police Department shared a summary of what’s thus far been pieced together about the incident, which they say led to an officer taking an accidental injury report.
When arriving at the scene, per an MPD rep, officers talked with an unnamed victim who had been “grazed in his top left thigh.” According to the man, he was “relaxing” and “talking” in bed with a “female friend” when his dog jumped up to join them, at which point his paw is alleged to have come “stuck in the trigger guard.” This allegedly led to the dog’s paw “hitting the trigger,” thus leading to that aforementioned grazed thigh.
As for the “female friend,” also not named in the statement provided to Complex, the victim in the shooting told responding officers that she “left the scene” after the shooting. Furthermore, per the victim, the unidentified woman took the weapon with her when leaving the residence.
Incredibly, this isn’t the first instance of someone alleging that their dog was responsible for accidentally shooting them. In 2023, police in Kansas said that a man died after a dog “stepped on” a rifle, resulting in a fatal shot in the back.