Teenage girl accidentally shoots herself with officer’s personal gun

The gun a teenage girl accidentally shot herself with inside the home of her stepfather, who is a Gilroy police officer, was the man’s personal firearm and not his service weapon, officials said Tuesday.

The officer, whom department officials declined to identify, has been off work per his normal schedule since Monday afternoon’s shooting in the 500 block of El Cerrito Way, said Gilroy police Sgt. Royce Heath.

Police said the officer’s stepdaughter, who NBC Bay Area reported was 13 years old, was rushed into surgery at a local trauma center for a gunshot to the leg and was expected to survive. The shooting was classified as an accident by police.

Department investigators plan to turn their report on the shooting over to Santa Clara County prosecutors, who could consider charges against the officer for allowing a gun to be accessible to the girl, by the end of the week, Heath said.

The officer will also learn by Friday if he can return to regular work, be put on leave or otherwise have his duties changed.

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