A Georgia mom shopping at Walmart with her “small children” had bullet shrapnel tear into both ankles after a man carrying a pistol in the front pocket of his “basketball-style” shorts “inadvertently” fired the weapon, according to police.
John Eady, 21, was inside a Valdosta Walmart on June 9 when the firearm he had on him “inadvertently discharged into the ground” while he reached for his cellphone, the Valdosta Police Department said.
“[Eady] was carrying a firearm in the front pocket of his basketball-style shorts,” the department said in a press release posted on Facebook. “Eady did not have the gun in any type of holster, and his cellphone was in the same pocket.”
As Eady reached into his pocket for his cellphone, police say the firearm “inadvertently discharged into the ground,” sending “shrapnel from the bullet and the tiles from the flooring” into the ankles of a 34-year-old mother.
“Preliminary information indicates that one shopper sustained a gunshot wound to her lower leg,” VPD officials said.
The woman was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
“Officers determined that Eady was carrying the firearm in a manner that was a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in a similar situation,” the police department said.
“We are very thankful that no one received more severe injuries, as the victim was shopping with her small children,” VPD Chief Leslie Manahan added in a statement. “This serves as a reminder that carrying a firearm is a significant responsibility. Firearms should be carried in a secure holster or in another secure manner to prevent unintentional contact with the trigger, reducing the risk of an unintended discharge.”
Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Eady on June 10. He turned himself in and was charged with one misdemeanor count of reckless conduct.
Eady was being held at the Lowndes County Jail.
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