ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orange County Sheriff's Office patrol corporal wounded himself Wednesday when he accidentally fired his weapon during a training exercise, officials said.
Sheriff John Mina said the deputy was at a department training facility on Wewahootee Road around 10:30 a.m. when he accidentally shot himself.
"The deputies on the scene and the firefighters who responded provided excellent care based on their training," Mina said. "We were able to stop the bleeding right away and get him transported here to Orlando Health."
Mina said the deputy was awake and alert after the incident.
He said the Sheriff's Office employee has been with the department since 2011 and is currently working as a patrol corporal.
A public relations officer with the Sheriff's Office said the deputy sheriff was at a department training facility on Wewahootee Road around 10:30 a.m. when he accidentally shot himself.
The sheriff's deputy was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment. He was awake and alert after the incident.
The Sheriff's Office employee has been with the department since 2011 and is currently working as a patrol corporal.
Sheriff John Mina said the deputy is in stable condition and was shot in the lower half of his body.
"Anytime there’s an incident like this, there is an internal investigation," he said. "Then, we look at it from a training perspective. What exactly happened? What went wrong? What we can do to fix it going forward?"
Mina said an internal investigation will be conducted, which is standard procedure when a deputy fires their weapon.
A similar incident happened in June at the same gun range.
In that case, an Orange County corrections officer accidentally shot himself in the leg.
Mina dismissed any connection, saying it was two different incidents and two different agencies.