LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Lehigh Acres man says he was startled into accidentally shooting himself when his dog started barking.
50-year-old Matthew Cole told Lee County investigators that it happened around 10 p.m. Sunday in his home on Cherokee Avenue.
According to a Lee County Sheriff's Office incident report, Cole says he was asleep in a recliner with a loaded .25 caliber handgun on a table next to him. He says one of his dogs, who was asleep at his feet, started barking, causing Cole to jump up and knock the gun off the table.
The gun hit the floor and discharged, striking Cole in the left thigh.
Doctors at Lehigh Regional confirmed the wound as a gunshot wound, with the bullet still in the leg.
