Man accidentally shoots himself in leg

A Wauwatosa man accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday morning with a revolver he kept in his basement.

According to the Wauwatosa police report:

The 22-year-old man was constructing furniture in his basement in the 6400 block of Milwaukee Avenue at 3 a.m. and had been drinking alcohol. He took the .357-caliber revolver that had been sitting on the heat duct and cocked it. It is not known why. When he tried to return the weapon to the uncocked position, it discharged and he was shot about three inches above the knee.

He called his father to tell him about the accident, then he drove around for four hours because he was scared neighbors might have heard the shot and that he would get in trouble. The father went to his son's house and took the gun, then told him to go to the hospital.

Doctors said they did not believe the gun owner had meant to hurt himself and that he was likely embarrassed. He had minor wounds and was released from St. Joseph Hospital that day.