Officer accidentally shoots self

COUNCIL BLUFFS -- A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer accidentally shot himself in the leg on Tuesday at the Southwest Iowa Law Enforcement Training Facility near Council Bluffs.

The 42-year-old officer, whose name was not immediately released, was participating in a handgun qualification test when the gun went off, said Council Bluffs Police Sgt. Charles Gorman.

Gorman said the officer was removing his sidearm from the holster when it discharged. "I believe the bullet entered below his knee and exited above the ankle,” Gorman said. “It was not a life-threatening injury.”

The accident was reported about 1:35 p.m. at the training facility, just south of Council Bluffs, near Interstate 29, exit 42.

Lewis Township Rescue treated the man before taking him to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Gorman said it was the first serious injury of any kind to happen at the facility, which opened in 2006.