Police Beat: Firearm discharged inside UNF dorm room

Mallory Pace and Carter Mudgett

A firearm was accidentally discharged at the University of North Florida Osprey Fountains dorms on Monday afternoon and, after UPD responded, a student has been arrested. 

The student said, “he was in his dorm room alone and decided to practice drawing his firearm from his waistband toward the window of his room,” according to the report. 

The student told officers that he knew the gun was loaded, but thought the safety was on. The trigger was squeezed and one 9 mm round discharged through his bedroom window, the report said. No injuries were reported.  

The student legally owned the firearm, according to UPD, and purchased it recently in November. 

After waiving his Miranda rights, the student gave a verbal statement that he was “practicing a new firearm drill that he learned from his weapon training class,” the report read. 

He told UPD that he was under the belief that he could possess the gun in his dorm room, the police report stated. 

The firearm, three magazines, 64 rounds of 9MM ammunition, and expanded casing were recovered by police at the scene. 

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