Accidental Shot Fells Tuna Fisherman

A Los Angeles area fisherman hoping to get in on the tuna bite off San Diego instead got a bullet in the back early Monday morning.

Jake Medina, 45, of Eagle Rock, was listed in good condition at San Diego’s Scripps Memorial Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. That was less than 36 hours after he was airlifted from the deck of the San Diego-based Conquest, which had just begun a day of albacore fishing 60 miles west-southwest of Point Loma.

Medina was in the galley at dawn when a .22-caliber rifle reportedly stored in a nearby compartment discharged. The bullet apparently passed through the wall separating the galley from the storage compartment and hit Medina in the back, lodging in the lung area.

The crew called for help, and a helicopter arrived to take Medina ashore. Skipper Joe Chait aborted the fishing trip and returned to Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego, arriving Monday night.

Bernie Ramirez, an investigator with the Coast Guard, said Tuesday afternoon he was still looking into the matter, but added that, based on witness accounts, the shooting appeared to have been an accident.

“What appears to have happened was, the rifle shifted and discharged either because of the motion of the boat or [the motion] caused by [a deckhand], who was rummaging around in the closet looking for a tackle box,” Ramirez said. “Unfortunately, the captain was so upset that he tossed the weapon over the side, which makes my investigation a lot more difficult.”

Ramirez said it is not illegal for commercial charter skippers to carry weapons while fishing in U.S. waters, and that some like to keep guns on board to shoot dangerous fish such as large sharks before bringing them aboard.

“If I had to make the call right now, though, I would say that he had an improperly stored weapon on his boat,” Ramirez said.

Chait, a respected skipper with years of experience in the San Diego area, did not return a phone call to his home Tuesday.