The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking charges against a Eureka couple after the wife reported that her husband accidently shot himself. The man reportedly shot himself at the couple’s home in the 7100 block of Twin Rivers Road in the Jefferson County portion of Eureka, and then the two traveled to a gas station in a car that had been reported stolen, Sheriff’s Office, spokesman Grant Bissell said.
Deputies got a call May 8 about a woman at the QuikTrip gas station, 290 E. Fourth St., who reportedly had been involved in a shooting. When deputies arrived, a 40-year-old Eureka man already had been transported to an area hospital to be treated for what was reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The 39-year-old Eureka woman told deputies she and her husband were at their home when she heard loud pops. She said her husband told her he had shot himself in the arm, so they got into a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, and she drove toward the city of Eureka to get to a hospital, the report said.
However, the woman said she didn’t know where she was going, so she pulled into the gas station to call an ambulance. Before the man was transported to the hospital, he reportedly told first responders he was practicing shooting in his backyard, and after firing three rounds, he noticed debris on the hammer of the .410 breech-loading gun. He said when he cleaned the hammer, the gun fired, and a bullet struck his arm, according to the report.
The man said he forgot he had reloaded the gun before manipulating the hammer, according to the report.
The deputy went to the couple’s home after taking the woman’s statement at the gas station to investigate and discovered the Malibu had been reported stolen April 25 by St. Louis County Police. The deputy then returned to the home on Twin Rivers Road, where he arrested the woman. She was then released at the scene, pending application for warrants, Bissell said.
He said the Sheriff’s Office will seek a charge of first-degree tampering against the woman and second-degree tampering against the man through the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.