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A Tennessee man claims he was shot in the leg while in bed with a female friend. On top of that, he says his dog is the one who pulled the trigger on the gun that shot him.
According to a Memphis Police Department report, officers responded to the home of Jerald Kirkwood in the 700 block of Whitney Avenue just before 4 a.m. Monday morning after receiving an accidental injury call. When they arrived, Kirkwood told the officers that he was in bed “relaxing/talking” with a female friend when his dog Oreo jumped on to the bed. He says that’s when the one-year-old pitbull terrier stepped on a gun, causing the weapon to discharge.
“The victim’s dog jumped on the bed and got his paw stuck in the trigger guard,” the police report states. The weapon ended up shooting Kirkwood in the left thigh. He was treated at the scene by paramedics for a graze wound and then taken to Regional One hospital for further evaluation and medical treatment.
When officers asked Kirkwood where the gun was, “he advised that the female friend took it when she left,” the police report states.
A friend of Jerald Kirkwood told WREG News, “There was a freak incident, and the dog jumped up and caused the gun to discharge.” He also stated that the dog, Oreo, is very friendly and that his friend who was shot was going to be fine.
People being shot by their dogs is nothing new. In 2023, a Kansas man was shot and killed in the front seat of his car after his dog stepped on a hunting rifle lying in the back seat. And in 2018, Iowa man claimed he was shot by his dog while playing around on the couch. Also in 2018, a man in New Mexico was shot by his dog when it stepped on a shotgun in the backseat of his truck.