Sheriff’s Deputy Injured by Accidental Rifle Discharge

A Door County Sheriff’s Deputy was injured by shrapnel from a rifle accidentally fired by a Sturgeon Bay police officer at the scene of a westside Sturgeon Bay domestic dispute on Dec. 18.

According to Capt. Dan Brinkman of the Sturgeon Bay Police Dept., officers responded to a home shortly after 6 am to find a 26-year-old man threatening his father with a knife. Brinkman said the officers took about half an hour to talk the man down into dropping the knife, but he took an aggressive stance and officers took him down, tasing the man in the process.

An officer not involved in the takedown was shouldering his rifle when it discharged into the floor, causing shrapnel to hit the back of the deputy’s leg. The deputy was treated and released at Door County Medical Center. The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident.