A 66-year-old Carteret man was shot in the leg at a Union Township gun range Saturday after a hot shell casing slipped inside his shirt while he was firing his handgun, triggering an accidental discharge, authorities said. The man, identified by police as Silvano Cruz, suffered a non-life-threatening wound and was rushed to a Newark hospital for treatment.
Cruz was firing a handgun at RTSP Shooting Range in the 2400 block of Route 22 on Oct. 10 when the incident occurred, according to NJ.com. Union Township Police were called to the range, located at 2438 Route 22, on a medical-aid call, according to Patch. Officers determined the injured man was Cruz, of Carteret, and that he had been shot in the thigh, the outlet reported.
Casing Landed Inside His Shirt as He Tried to Holster His Weapon
Deputy Police Chief Barry Cohen said the accidental discharge happened after a spent shell casing ejected from Cruz's handgun and fell inside his shirt as he attempted to holster the weapon. The casing could be felt against his chest, causing him to squeeze the trigger again, Cohen said, per the NJ.com report.
Police described Cruz's wound as non-life-threatening, according to Patch's report. Union Township Fire Department members and emergency medical workers treated Cruz at the scene before he was taken to University Hospital in Newark for additional evaluation and treatment. No other injuries were reported, Patch noted.
Not every accidental shooting in New Jersey has ended without tragedy. On July 4, 2017, 16-year-old Jose Oliver Torres Tineo was shot and killed in Elizabeth by a friend who was holding a shotgun, authorities said, according to the same NJ.com report. Accidental discharges have also surfaced elsewhere in recent months, including a May incident during a police training exercise in Hunterdon County in which no one was struck by the bullet, though an officer suffered a minor injury from the handgun's slide, per a separate NJ.com account.
