Hilton Head gun cleaning leads to woman’s wounding

A Hilton Head Island woman was accidentally shot in the arm by her boyfriend Monday as he cleaned her gun while on a break from work.

Deputies arrived at the Helmsman Way apartment around 6:30 p.m. to find the woman emerging from the bedroom and the .40 caliber pistol on the coffee table, a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report said.

The woman’s boyfriend told deputies he had decided to clean the weapon during his break.

He went into the bedroom and sat on the bed next to the victim, the report said. He told deputies he cocked the weapon to make sure it was not loaded, then depressed the trigger so that he could remove the slide and check a spring he believed was broken, the report said.

When he pulled the trigger, he shot his girlfriend in her upper left arm, the report said.

His girlfriend confirmed the story and said they had never had any domestic violence issues, the report said.

She was taken to Hilton Head Hospital for treatment.

As deputies questioned her boyfriend, they asked if he was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. He said he was not and gave deputies permission to search the apartment after telling them they’d likely find marijuana, the report said.

They did — 7.3 grams of pot hidden under a bathroom sink, the report said.

He was subsequently charged with simple marijuana possession.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 8:42 AM with the headline "Hilton Head gun cleaning leads to woman’s wounding."