ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Sheriff's Department is investigating an accidental shooting inside the Civil Courts building in downtown St. Louis on Monday.
According to a spokesperson for the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri it happened between 6 and 6:30 Monday morning before the courthouse was open to the public in an office used by deputies. Thom Gross says the deputy was "holstering his weapon" when it discharged. The bullet passed through a wall and lodged in a judge's desk in the judge's chambers.
Gross says no one was injured and the judge was not in the chambers at the time.
Michael Guzy with the St. Louis Sheriff's department says the deputy has been suspended without pay pending an investigation and that it is too soon to know what, if any, discipline the deputy could face.
"We take fire arm safety very, very seriously for all of the obvious reasons," said Guzy.
He says it is too soon to know what, if any, discipline the deputy could face but criminal charges are a possibility. He says a drug test is standard after any fire arm is discharged by a deputy on the job and the department is awaiting those results. Guzy says at this time there is no reason to suspect the deputy was impaired but he can say the deputy was not involved in any kind of security situation at the time the gun went off.
The St. Louis Sheriff's Department provides security for 31 divisional courtrooms, according to the department's website.
