Gun accident injures two family members

MOSES LAKE - The Grant County Sheriff's Office reports that two people were injured, one seriously, after an accidental shooting on Dec. 1 in Moses Lake.

Neither of the injured persons was reported to have received life threatening injuries.

The accident occurred in the 1400 block of W. Craig St. Moses Lake. A gun discharged during gun cleaning.

According to Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones, Terry Cafferty, 69, sat down at his dining room table to clean several pistols while other family members were sitting nearby. During disassembly of a compact 9mm, Terry reportedly forgot to remove the loaded magazine.

After pulling and releasing the slide, Jones said, Terry pulled the trigger not realizing that a round had been chambered. The pistol discharged with the bullet striking him in the forearm before hitting his daughter-in-law, Miriam Cafferty, 25, who was seated in the living room, in the chest.

Both Caffertys were transported to Samaritan Hospital emergency department, from where Miriam was later transferred to Central Washington Hospital.

- Staff report