A prison of­fi­cer ac­ci­den­tal­ly shot him­self in the foot while clear­ing his firearm in a car yes­ter­day morn­ing.

Po­lice said at 1 am, the of­fi­cer, who is as­signed to the Re­mand Yard Prison in Arou­ca, was in the front pas­sen­ger seat of his car, which was be­ing dri­ven by a fe­male friend.  They were re­port­ed­ly head­ing to the woman’s home at Quinam Road, Siparia, to spend the night.

On the way there, the prison of­fi­cer de­cid­ed to clear his gun when it dis­charged and a 9mm bul­let hit him in his left in­step.

His friend drove him to the Siparia Health Fa­cil­i­ty and while he was be­ing treat­ed, a nurse con­tact­ed the po­lice. The prison of­fi­cer was then trans­ferred to the Point Fortin Hos­pi­tal for fur­ther treat­ment.

Po­lice lodged his firearm, mag­a­zine and eight rounds of am­mu­ni­tion at the sta­tion pend­ing fur­ther in­ves­ti­ga­tions.

W/Sgt Hospedales is in­ves­ti­gat­ing.