Virginia Couple Accidentally Shot at Gun Safety Class

Roanoke, Va. — A gun safety class went horribly wrong in Virginia this weekend when a man accidentally shot himself in the hand with a .45-caliber handgun and the bullet passed through his hand and struck his wife in the leg.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia said Michael Deel of Roanoke, Va. and his wife Michelle were taken to the Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries following the shooting accident, which happened Saturday at the home of firearms safety instructor Thomas Starke.

Starke told deputies that he had left the room, heard a shot and returned to find the Deels had been shot. There were about five people in the room at the time of the accidental shooting, according to police reports.

The Deels’ current condition was not immediately available.

The Associated Press quotes Michael Deel as calling the gun safety class shooting a “stupid accident.”

While the Deels’ gun safety incident may be embarrassing, it’s certainly not the first of its kind. In April 2004, the most infamous accidental shooting during a firearms course took place when a unidentified DEA agent’s .40-caliber weapon discharged into his thigh as he delivered a presentation on gun safety to about 50 adults and students.

According to press reports at the time, the agent did not sustain serious injury, and he returned to work after being treated at a nearby hospital. He was reportedly suspended once a video of the gun safety accident was leaked to the internet.

The video of that incident can be seen below:

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