Moment Shooting Club Visitor Shot In Chest After Bullet Left In Gun Chamber

This is the moment a 37-year-old shooting club visitor is accidentally shot in the chest after leaving a pistol on a table with a round still in the chamber.

The shooting happened at the Velho Texas shooting club in Novo Sobradinho, a district of Toledo in western Parana state, Brazil, on the afternoon of 29 August.

CCTV footage shows the 37-year-old handling the pistol before inserting the magazine, chambering a round, removing the magazine again and leaving the weapon on the table.

Another visitor, aged 31, then picks up the pistol and begins examining it, apparently believing it cannot fire.

Seconds later, the gun goes off and the bullet can be seen striking the 37-year-old in the chest.

People at the club rushed to help the injured visitor before he was taken to Bom Jesus Hospital in Toledo.

He remained in a serious condition in intensive care following the shooting.

Neither his identity nor that of the 31-year-old has been released.

Parana Civil Police said the younger visitor is an authorised collector, sport shooter and hunter.

Police chief Fabio Freire said the shooting was caused by a sequence of failures to follow basic firearms safety rules.

Fabio said these include keeping a finger away from the trigger, pointing the barrel in a safe direction and always treating a weapon as if it is loaded.

Police said the evidence so far indicates the shooting was accidental and is being investigated as possible negligent bodily injury.

The 31-year-old was questioned by Civil Police on Saturday night and was not arrested.

Police said the pistol was legally registered and has been seized for forensic examination.

The shooting club said handling firearms in administrative and restricted-access areas is prohibited.

It said: "The circumstances of this isolated incident are being investigated with due care and responsibility, and the details will be clarified once the investigation has been completed."

Police have opened a formal investigation and said an initial assessment indicated the club's owners were not involved in the incident.

The findings will also be forwarded to the Federal Police and Brazilian Army for any administrative measures considered necessary.

(Newsflash)