Teen shoots self with gun in pocket

A 17-year-old Carson City teen accidentally shot himself in the groin with a loaded, 9 mm handgun he carried in his pocket, police said Monday.

Carson City deputies found the teen lying in the parking lot of the Downtowner Motor Inn at 801 N. Carson St. about midnight Monday after the motel manager flagged them down.

Because of the victim's age, his name is being withheld pending a determination of whether any charges will be filed against him, said Lt. Ken Sandage.

According to the police report, a motel resident said he watched the teen jump a fence into the motel's parking lot shortly before midnight.

"When the subject landed, (the witness) heard a gunshot and observed the subject lying on the ground in between two vehicles," Deputy Mike Fischer wrote in his report.

"The wound was self-inflicted," said Sandage.

Sandage said it appears that as the boy jumped over the fence, the gun discharged, sending a bullet into his groin that exited through his buttocks.

The deputy reported he found the victim lying on the ground in obvious pain, with "white smoke emitting from his shorts."

When asked where the gun was, the boy pointed underneath a Ford Explorer parked a few feet away. The gun contained a magazine with seven rounds in it.

He was taken by helicopter to Washoe Medical Center. Sandage said the teen is in fair condition.

The case will be forwarded to the Carson City District Attorney's Office for review, Sandage said.

Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.