A Torrevieja local police officer suffered minor injuries when a colleague accidentally discharged his service pistol in the armoury at the force’s main station.
The incident happened on August 5 but has only recently come to light. According to municipal sources, the officer was preparing for an afternoon shift when the gun went off. The bullet struck a hard surface, sending fragments into another officer’s right arm.
The officer who fired the weapon acknowledged that he had failed to check properly whether a round was in the chamber. An incident report also states that he handled the pistol in a general access area of the armoury, outside the designated safety area used for loading, unloading and checking firearms.
The shot left marks on the armoury and a wall, according to the account. The injured officer, who was in the room at the time, said he felt the discharge and then a slight pain in his arm.
Concerned that a fragment might be lodged in the wound, he went to Quirón Hospital in Torrevieja. X-rays found no foreign object. He received treatment for a superficial injury and a tetanus injection, and the medical report classified his injuries as minor.
The officer who discharged the pistol, described as a veteran member of the force, attributed his mistake to possible haste and stress while preparing the weapon. He acknowledged the seriousness of what had happened and apologised to the injured colleague and other members of the force.
Police headquarters opened two separate proceedings after the incident. A disciplinary investigation remains open while the circumstances are examined. The officer’s service weapon was also temporarily withdrawn over concerns about his handling of it and the injury caused to his colleague.
That precautionary measure has since been resolved following firearms training, which the officer completed successfully during the force’s mandatory annual exercise in September. The training covered safety rules, chamber checks, handling, assembly and disassembly, and basic shooting techniques. The outcome of the separate disciplinary case has yet to be determined.
A central question in that investigation is why the pistol was handled outside the armoury’s designated safe area. Such areas provide a controlled place to check or unload a firearm, with a discharge box or similar equipment intended to contain a bullet if a weapon fires unexpectedly.
According to the incident report, the officer operated the pistol’s mechanisms without confirming that the chamber was empty. The weapon discharged, and the projectile reportedly struck the floor before fragmenting. One of those fragments hit his colleague. Investigators are examining the handling of the weapon and the failure to use the available safety equipment.
The incident has drawn attention to firearm procedures at the station, though the reported injury was slight and hospital checks found no embedded shrapnel. No other injuries were reported.
Torrevieja’s local police force has around 180 members, including command staff. The September firearms exercise formed part of its regular training programme. For the officer involved in the discharge, completing that training resolved the temporary withdrawal of his weapon, but the disciplinary proceedings remain open.
