Man shoots self in penis, blames 'black guy'

A convicted felon in Sioux Falls, S.D., accidentally shot himself in the genitals while examining a gun he was thinking of buying. A convicted felon in Sioux Falls, S.D., accidentally shot himself in the genitals while examining a gun he was thinking of buying. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Man shoots self in penis, blames 'black guy' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A man who suffered a gunshot wound to his penis when a pistol he stuffed in his pants went off told police that he was shot by a "black guy (who) tried to rob him."

Donald Anthony Watson, a 43-year-old convicted felon, showed up at a local emergency room bleeding profusely from his genitals in the early morning of Sept. 6, according to the Argus Leader.

When police asked him how a bullet happened to strike him in the crotch, Watson — who is white — said he had been putting out the trash at a dumpster outside his apartment when the robber shot him during an attempted mugging.

In a city where fewer than one of 20 residents is black, Watson's account of an African American gunman staking out dumpsters after midnight to rob people might have given officers pause.

In any event, police went to the dumpster to corroborate his story, but they found no evidence of a shooting. They, however, did find a witness who had heard screaming coming from the apartment about 1 a.m.

A search warrant of the apartment yielded bullet fragments, blood and an empty gun case, but no gun.

Watson later admitted to officers that he had shot himself while examining a pistol he was considering buying, according to the Leader. He told them that as he placed it in his pocket, the gun discharged, wounding him. Apparently it did not come with a holster.

Watson reportedly would not say who the seller was or what happened to the gun.

He was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other charges.

As one Facebook commenter noted, while Watson does not qualify for a Darwin Award by virtue of surviving the accident, he may not be adding his chromosomes to the gene pool.