A drunk, off-duty Florida jailhouse deputy trying to show his son how to clean his AR-15 rifle last month dropped it, and a bullet struck his daughter when it went off.
WPEC reported that Daniel Weber, 35, took out the weapon’s magazine and “believed the firearm to be empty,” Port St. Lucie Police said.
He set it on a TV tray, which then tipped over. The weapon fired when it hit the floor, he said.
Detectives said Weber heard another child crying and found that his daughter had been shot in the hip/lower abdomen. He said he applied pressure to the wound while his son called 911.
The girl was taken to the hospital, where she underwent surgery.
Officers said Weber smelled of alcohol and admitted that he had at least six beers, WPBF said.
Read Related Also: Crypto dealer who purchased house with $10.4M wrongly put under consideration faces separate deception cost
Weber has been charged with aggravated child abuse, using a firearm while under the influence of alcoholic beferages, and culpable negligence. He entered a plea of not guilty.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said that Weber works as a deputy at the county jail and has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Shutterstock]
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘249856382045099’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
