Stephen Summers was showing his wife, Evy Elaine Summers, 53, how to clean and disassemble a Glock at their Bolden Drive home just before 3 p.m. Sunday when he accidentally shot her, according to a police report filed Monday at the Murfreesboro Police Department.
“Mr. Summers advised that he and his wife were watching ‘Cher’ on television and must have been distracted,” Officer Palmer Gibbs reported. “Mr. Summers cocked the Glock and it went off and struck Mrs. Summers in her right wrist, left breast and (traveled) out her left tricep.”
Police spoke with Evy Summers at Middle Tennessee Medical Center, where she was treated for her wounds, and she confirmed her husband’s story.
“She advised that her husband ... racked the slide and the gun went off,” Gibbs reported.
Police spokesman Kyle Evans on Monday reiterated some significant points of handgun safety.
“When you’re cleaning a gun, it is especially important to make sure the firearm is empty before you begin working on it,” he said. “It’s always a good idea to treat every gun as if it were loaded all the time.
“Never point a gun in the direction of anything that you don’t want destroyed, because we have seen cases in the past where people have accidentally shot through the walls of their houses, television sets and, in this case, an actual human being. It’s especially important to keep these tips in mind when you are in the limits of Murfreesboro because of the close proximity of other houses.”
Stephen Summers has a legal handgun carry permit, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit database.
— Mark Bell, 615-278-5153
