STURGEON BAY, Wis. – A Sturgeon Bay police officer was hurt when another officer’s gun accidentally discharged during an incident early Monday, police say.
The officer was shot in the leg and not seriously hurt.
“This was an unintended discharge,” said Police Capt. Dan Brinkman.
At 6:08 a.m., Sturgeon Bay officers were called to the report of a man wielding a knife at a home in the city.
Capt. Brinkman says the 26-year-old suspect was inside a home with his parents, and the suspect was “going after” his father. Police were informed that the man was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or both, Brinkman says.
Officers took the suspect down and got the knife away from him. Brinkman says the suspect was aggressive and officers had to use a taser on him.
“The officers got there, they had to talk the subject down for a good amount of time. They were able to get the knife away from him. But then the subject went into a defense posture, an aggressive posture. The officers took him to the ground, had to be tased,” Brinkman says.
During this time, an officer’s gun discharged and hit another officer in the leg.
“During that hands-on period, another officer, who was not part of the hands-on handcuffing, firearm discharged, and it struck another officer in the leg,” Brinkman says.
The officer who was injured was taken to a hospital and will be released Monday, Brinkman says.
Brinkman says both officers are veterans of the force. At this time, the department is not releasing the names of the officers involved in the shooting.
The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation has been called to help with the investigation, which is standard protocol during an incident in which officers are involved in a shooting.
The 26-year-old man who was wielding the knife was taken into custody, Brinkman says.