Crime & Safety

Gun Owner Not Charged in Accidental Wentzville Church Shooting

Truck driver said he carried the gun for protection.

The man whose gun accidentally fired and shot a man at a Wentzville church last month said he carries the weapon for protection during his job as a truck driver, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Now, charges against him are being dropped.

Aaron Dawn, a 23-year-old  man, was at during a fundraiser on Jan. 21. After seeing the news on TV, a person turned themselves in claiming to be the owner of the gun that shot Dawn.

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As the gun owner was getting up to leave, the .38-caliber Cobra Derringer, commonly known as a "pocket pistol," fell out of his coat pocket and went off as it hit the ground, the Post-Dispatch report said.

The man didn't come forth at the time because he said he didn't hear the gun go off because of the noise in the room.

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From the report

The truck driver does carry a concealed carry permit, and there were not signs posted on the building prohibiting guns, Banas said. Banas said there may have been a sign elsewhere on the church property but the truck driver didn't see one.

 

Banas said he looked into whether the man should have had some sort of safety device on the gun, but those familiar with the weapon said that the trigger is difficult to pull back and is ordinarily safe to carry in a pocket. Such weapons can go off if dropped, Banas said.

 

The victim was shot through the liver and was released from the hospital this week, Banas said. Banas has spoken with him as he's looked into whether to file charges.

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