A retired federal agent rehired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deployed to Minnesota has been involved in a hotel shooting.
The incident, which led to no deaths or injuries, led to police rushing to a Hampton Inn in December. Agent Bradley Shaver, 53, reportedly misfired his gun after changing the handle of his Glock 19. A police report seen by the Sahan Journal states the bullet travelled through into the adjacent room, where a hotel guest had checked in.
The report states the bullet went through the ICE agent's sweatshirt pocket, through the wall, and into the headboard of the bed in the opposite room.
Aaron Wukawitz, the room's occupant, says he could have been killed by the stray bullet, while an advocacy group has since questioned the ICE agent's use of his pistol at the hotel.
"That could have literally killed me," the hotel guest said.
Megan Newcomb, an organizer with Sunrise Movement, added, "The scary thing about this gun story is not only are hotel workers at risk, but people just coming to Minnesota are at risk."
Wakuwitz, 32, says he overheard a conversation between Shaver and an unnamed person speaking with the ICE agent on the phone.
“It just went off,” Shaver said, according to Wakuwitz, “You could tell in his voice it was pure panic, a total accident." Wakuwitz added, "He was like, ‘The bullet went through your room."
An Eagan officer wrote in the police report, "He [Shaver] described to me that he was holding the gun by the red dot sight and the back of the weapon while he was trying to wedge the backstrap back onto the grip.
“As he was doing this, he heard a very loud bang. Initially he thought the gunshot came from somewhere else and he yelled ‘shots fired’ and then told his wife he had to go and hung up. Shaver then felt heat on the left side of his body, looked down and saw the damage to his shirt and realized the shot had come from his own weapon."
Wakuwitz has accepted the incident was an accident, though he states Shaver must have had his finger on the trigger at the time of the shooting.
He added, "There’s no way you could do this unless your finger was on the trigger. There’s no way."