ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995              TAG: 9512050060
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN  

DEPUTY SHOT IN THIGH WHILE HOLSTERING HIS PISTOL

A Montgomery County deputy was not seriously injured Sunday when his pistol discharged as he placed it back in his holster as he left the jail.

Deputy Jeff Spooner stayed overnight at Montgomery Regional Hospital for observation. The bullet hit him in the upper right thigh and exited just at the back of the knee, Capt. O.P. Ramsey said.

Spooner had been inside the jail Sunday afternoon to get an inmate for car-washing duties, Ramsey said. Officers are required to check their weapons before entering the jail.

Spooner had retrieved his weapon - a department-issue .40-caliber Glock - on the way out of the jail and was reholstering the gun when it discharged.

Ramsey said the weapon will be tested to see if it is defective.

"He said he didn't have his finger on the trigger when it discharged," Ramsey said.

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