A Hartford police sergeant is under internal investigation after investigators say he accidentally fired his personal handgun into his neighbor's house.
Sgt. Eric Smith was off duty inside his Windsor home in late September.
He told Windsor police he was "unloading his off duty handgun" in his upstairs bedroom when he "accidentally fired the gun one time." Smith said he "didn't think the bullet exited his bedroom wall," according to police
But it did. It was found inside his next door neighbor's house on the bed of a young girl.
She was not injured.
According to the police report, Sgt. Smith wasn't the first to report the accidental firing to police. It was the neighbors. The girl told her father "she found what she thought was a capsule in her bed." Her father immediately identified it as a bullet and called the cops.
No one answered the door at Smith's home when NBC Connecticut stopped by Wednesday evening.
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His neighbor tells us the issue has been resolved and didn't want to talk about it.
Sgt. Smith was not charged by Windsor police but Hartford police are conducting an internal review.
"It was investigated by our internal affairs division," said Lt. Brian Foley of the Hartford Police Department. "The investigation is almost complete. It's in the command review process. Once that is through the investigation will be made available to you."
Smith has been on the force for more than 15 years.
"What's important is that nobody was hurt," said Lt. Foley. "It should also be noted that he was off duty and it was not his department weapon that was used in this incident."
