Off-duty Ky. cop accidentally shoots himself in stomach during dinner date with wife

An off-duty northern Kentucky police officer accidentally shot himself in the stomach while out on a dinner date with his wife.

Officer Darryl Joett, of Erlanger police, had finished dinner with his wife Saturday night in Cincinnati’s Over-The-Rhine neighborhood when the gun discharged in a parking garage elevator, investigators said.

The bullet ricocheted off the elevator wall and struck Jouett in the abdomen, reported WCPO-TV.

He was taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

"It's very unusual -- obviously you have somebody that's used to handling firearms," said Capt. Mike John, of Cincinnati police. "It's very unusual to see somebody discharge a firearm, accidentally, in a confined space like that. It's very unusual."

Erlanger police said Sunday that Jouett, a 25-year veteran, was adjusting his belt when his department-issued .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun fired in its holster.

Investigators aren’t sure whether the safety was on.

No other injuries were reported, and the shooting remains under investigation.

Watch this video report posted online by WCPO-TV: