Christopher M. Morris said he planned to go target shooting with his lever-action rifle this weekend and was cleaning the firearm in the living room of his Southeast Portland apartment Wednesday night when it accidentally fired.

The 52-year-old said he thought he had emptied all the rounds in the rifle, shaking the gun to dislodge them.

"I was going to get the cleaning-rod kit. When I went to close the chamber, it fired. There was one shell in the rifle. It just went off,'' Morris said Thursday. "I didn't pull the trigger. It took me by surprise as much as anyone else."

One .44-caliber round traveled through the back of his living room bookcase and through the wall and into the neighboring townhouse unit in the 1200 block of Southeast 130th Ave.

It whizzed through the neighbor's brown couch on which 17-year-old Leilina Chipen was seated, with her 15-year-old sister, about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Chipen said she heard a single 'pop' but didn't notice she'd been struck.

"I didn't feel it," Chipen said.

Her younger sister spotted a hole in their couch, and white stuffing from the couch littering the living room carpet.

Leilina Chipen lifted up the blanket that covered her legs. That's when she saw blood on her right leg.

"I couldn't feel anything. It happened so fast," she said. "It started to burn two minutes later."

Rick Chipen, the victim's father, said he's thankful the injury wasn't more serious. Here, he shows the hole where the bullet entered their townhouse unit on Southeast 130th Avenue.

The bullet went through the Chipen family's couch and across their living room and outside, through the far living room wall. Remarkably, Chipen's 7-year-old brother, who was playing on the living room floor, was not struck.

The shooter called 9-1-1 and ran into the Chipens' townhouse unit. Morris said he saw the 17-year-old victim, pressing three napkins to her leg wound.

"It was a simple, stupid accident," Morris said. "It just happened."

He said he's thankful the injury wasn't more serious.

"I was begging forgiveness," he told The Oregonian Thursday, through tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Chipen was taken by ambulance to Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. Her mother, who had been called at work and told there had been an accident, and her father, who had just stepped out of the home to visit with a relative, met their daughter at the hospital.

"It was very scary for us," Rick Chipen said.

Leilina Chipen received stitches and was bandaged up and released. A junior at David Douglas High School, she stayed home from school Thursday.

"She's really lucky," said Rick Chipen, of his daughter. "I'm just glad it was not a major injury to my daughter."'

Morris, a former cable lineman who is now collecting disability payments because of a back injury, said his own daughter, age 12, was home with him at the time.

Leilina Chipen, 17, said she received stitches for her leg wound Wednesday night. A junior at David Douglas High School, she missed classes Thursday.

"What if that happened to my daughter?" Morris said, his voice quivering with emotion.

Morris said he was detained by police for questioning for about three hours Wednesday night.

.

Multnomah County chief deputy district attorney Don Rees said prosecutors will examine whether the shooting was intentional, reckless or criminally negligent in determining whether to file charges.

Morris said he's had guns all his life. He target shoots as a sport in an old rock quarry in Clackamas County. He doesn't hunt.

"I shoot at rocks and metal targets," he said. "I just got it for target shooting and home protection."

Morris said he's lived at he Southeast Portland townhouse unit for 7 years. His move there marked the first time he's lived in an apartment in 30 years.

The discharge has scared him, he said. From now on, he won't remove any of his firearms from their cases at home, and instead will wait until he's far from other people to check and clean them.

"That scared me to death," he said.

Chipen's family called Morris' actions negligent.

Bullet entered the Chipen family townhouse unit from far wall and traveled through their living room couch.

"He needs to be more careful," said Rick Chipen. "Why would he clean the gun and face it towards his wall? He just needs to be more careful."

Leilina Chipen said her little brother was crying after he learned she'd been shot. She said she thinks the shooter should be criminally charged.

"He should have checked it was empty before cleaning it," she said, still limping from her injury Thursday.

Morris said police instructed him not to make contact with the Chipens, unless they initiate it.

"I had an accident and it hurts," Morris said later Thursday. "I hope they'll try to understand."

--Maxine Bernstein