WINDSOR— An off-duty Hartford police sergeant who accidentally fired his gun through the wall of his home and into the bedroom of a 12-year-old girl in the neighboring house is not facing criminal charges.
The neighbors of Sgt. Eric Smith's neighbors were satisfied with an apology, according to Capt. Tom LePore of the Windsor Police Department.
"There was no desire on the part of the victim to have an arrest made," LePore said. "As a matter of fact they said they did not want their neighbor to be arrested for that."
According to an incident report from Windsor, a resident of Village Lane called police on Sept. 25 after his daughter found a bullet in her bed. The daughter told police that three days earlier she had discovered a hole in her bedroom wall just underneath the window.
Police examined the bullet hole and determined the shot came from a southerly direction. An officer then went to Smith's residence, which is just south of the caller's house.
Smith told Windsor police that on the evening of Sept. 24, he was in his bedroom unloading his off-duty handgun when he accidentally fired one shot, the incident report states. Smith said he checked the hole in his bedroom wall with a screwdriver and thought the bullet had stayed inside the wall. He also said he checked outside for evidence that the bullet had exited the wall and found none, according to the report.
Windsor police spoke with a sergeant from Hartford police Internal Affairs division, who stated that the "situation would be addressed internally," the report states.
The case was closed by Windsor police, though the report gives no explanation of the discrepancy between when Smith reported the accidental shot and when the girl reported finding the bullet hole. The report does not indicate whether anyone was inside the neighbor's home at the time of the shot.
LePore said that although Smith could have been charged with reckless endangerment or unlawful discharge of a weapon, he did not receive special treatment.
An internal affairs investigation into the matter is almost complete, but disciplinary action against Smith has not been determined, said Lt. Brian Foley, head of the Hartford police Major Crimes division. The investigation is currently in the "command review stage," Foley said.
Although no criminal charges were filed, LePore said this sort of incident should have been reported immediately.
"I can't actually understand why he didn't report it to his agency, number one, or how he didn't see that it penetrated his house," LePore said. "I mean those are all very good questions."