Gopher hunters charged after gun accidentally fired in Weyburn hotel

Nearly everyone who has stayed in a hotel has heard things through the wall of their room.

However, not a lot of people have had something come through the wall — especially something like a bullet.

In a media release Tuesday, the Weyburn Police Service said three elderly men had been charged after the accidental discharge of a rifle sent a bullet through the wall of their hotel room into the neighbouring room, just missing a person in that room.

Police said that after getting a report of a shot being fired, officers from the Weyburn and Estevan police services descended on the hotel. The building was evacuated as police investigated the gunshot.

Officers subsequently found three seniors who had accidentally fired a rifle in their room before going out for supper.

“The males didn’t realize the bullet had (gone) through the headboard in their room and made its way into the room next to them,” the police release said. “The males were hunting gophers in a rural area earlier and didn’t realize one of the rifles was still loaded when they were putting them away.”

Police said the three men — two from British Columbia and one from Saskatchewan, according to Discover Weyburn — were charged with unsafe storage of a firearm. One of them also was charged with careless use of a firearm.

“There’s never too much safety when it comes to using a firearm,” Deputy Chief Brent VanDeSype said. “Always make sure that you know when you are hunting that (your gun) is pointing in the safe direction, and when you’re done hunting, to make sure that it’s check and double checked that it’s clear, it’s safe and it’s locked.”

The hotel wasn’t identified in the release, but Discover Weyburn reported it was on Sims Avenue.

— With files from Discover Weyburn