KENT, Wash. — A man finds himself facing potential felony charges after accidentally shooting himself at a Kent gas station, police say.
Kent police say a Ferndale man, 43, was inside a gas station on 74th Avenue South on Sunday afternoon when a gun fell out of his pants. The man picked up the gun and put it back into his waistband, but was fiddling with it as he walked to the checkout counter, police say.
The man fell to the floor all of a sudden, police say, and then "hobbled out of the store" and left the gas station in a vehicle driven by a woman. Police say the man eventually turned up at an Auburn hospital for treatment and told police that he had been shot by a stranger in the parking lot of a store.
Police say surveillance video showed the man was accidentally shot by his own gun in the buttocks. The man turned out to have prior felony convictions and had a current no-contact domestic violence order in place, making it illegal for him to possess a gun. Further police investigation also revealed that the gun had actually been stolen from its owner.
The man was not able to be booked into jail due to his injuries, police said, but he could face up to 3 felony charges once he is released from the hospital.
Police also said the woman who had driven the man from the scene turned over the gun he had hidden in the car.
