By Laura Gunderson
The Oregonian
PORTLAND — A corrections officer at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem accidentally shot himself in the leg as he started a shift Monday, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.
The officer shot himself in the right thigh about 1 p.m. as he approached his post at the watch tower, said Betty Bernt, a department spokeswoman. The department is investigating the accident and conducting an administrative review, she said. Corrections officials wouldn’t release the officer’s name.
Dan Russ, president of the Association of Oregon Corrections Employees, said he couldn’t disclose details of the accident until after an investigation is complete. But he said the officer is “doing fine” and that a full recovery is expected. His union represents officers at the penitentiary.
Bernt wouldn’t say what type of gun discharged, citing a public disclosure exemption concerning “security measures or potential weaknesses in security measures.”
Corrections officers in the transport unit and those working in security towers – located in five of the department’s 14 prisons -- are required to carry state-issued firearms. Officers in minimum-security facilities don’t carry guns.
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