Police: Officer’s gun goes off, striking man in burning home

DUNDALK, Md. – Police say an officer’s gun discharged during an altercation, striking a man who had refused to leave a burning house in Maryland.

Baltimore County police spokesman Cpl. Shawn Vinson says two officers had entered the Dundalk house on Wednesday and found a man and woman inside. The woman escaped, but the man refused to leave.

Vinson says the officer’s gun somehow discharged at one point, striking the man in the torso. The officer suffered from smoke inhalation, and WBAL-TV reports they were both taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Vinson says one officer was wearing a body camera and that police will check footage as they seek to determine why the gun fired.