Off-duty armed security guard accidentally drops gun, shoots self and 4-year-old son

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Police say the man was reaching for his gun when it somehow fell off a dresser firing a gunshot that hit him and his four-year-old son.

The accidental shooting happened just after 8 a.m. Friday at a home on North Delno Avenue in Central Fresno.

When police arrived they learned an off-duty security guard's gun went off after it fell off a dresser.

"That's when he was grabbing his gun. I don't believe he was going to work, I think he already got home from work," said Fresno Police Lt. Mark Hudson. "He was leaving the house and getting the gun off the dresser."

Fresno Police would not say which security guard company the man works for.

Lt. Hudson said the man was struck in the left palm of his hand but the bullet from the .40-caliber handgun didn't stop there.

"And unfortunately also it struck his four-year-old who was standing outside the bedroom at that point when the gun went off striking him in the left elbow area," said Lt. Hudson.

The man and his young son were both treated for non-life threating injuries at Community Regional Medical Center in Downtown Fresno.

Fresno Police will now focus the investigation on how the gun fell off the dresser and when it exactly went off.

"We want to get all the information that we can, obviously from the angle of the bullet and from witnesses inside the house, or him, or anybody else who can tell us what happened inside," said Lt. Hudson.

Fresno Police have not released the names of the man or his son and have not made a decision on if the man will face any charges.