Gunshot victim says he wasn't drunk

Contrary to a Douglas County sheriff's report, a 25-year-old Dayton man said he wasn't intoxicated when he accidentally shot himself in the left leg with a .45-caliber handgun.

"I was not drunk," Anthony Melendrez said Wednesday.

He admitted he's had problems with alcohol, but said he is trying to quit.

Deputies were called to a residence in the 800 block of Long Valley Road on March 14 after Melendrez shot himself.

He said Wednesday the gun, a 60-year-old weapon that belonged to his grandfather, discharged as he was trying to empty it while he was sitting in his vehicle outside the residence.

Deputies believed the shooting was accidental and occurred because the victim was intoxicated.

Melendrez said the gun hadn't been fired in 20 years before he took a couple of shots at the Gardnerville Ranchos sand pits prior to going to his friend's house. He said he wanted to empty the weapon because his friends have a 3-year-old.

When deputies arrived after the accident, they said Melendrez's speech was slurred, and a preliminary breath test indicated his blood-alcohol content was .128.

"That's impossible," Melendrez said. "I don't remember submitting to any breath test."

He said he was in such excruciating pain that he grabbed a beer and took one drink before paramedics arrived and he was taken to Reno by helicopter.

Melendrez said he doubted that would have raised his alcohol level.

"I've had my problems in life, but I was not drunk," he insisted.

Melendrez said he was very lucky not to lose his foot.

"The bullet went right through and missed all the bone," he said.