By Sharyn L. Decker

Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 66-year-old vendor at a gun show was arrested on Saturday when he fired a rifle inside the crowded venue.

He said he must have bumped the trigger, but nobody was struck and nobody was hurt, according to police.

Police were called about 10:30 a.m. to the pavilion at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on North National Avenue and found the round had skipped off concrete, gone through another vendor’s gun cases and landed in a large book, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

Officer Linda Bailey said it was a 308 Savage model 99.

Daniel B. MacGugan, 66, from Olympia, said after he purchased the weapon from someone who had brought it in, he removed the strap to look at the bore, and that’s when it happened, Bailey said.

Bailey said all firearms brought inside the building are checked by security and “strapped” with a zip tie to show they are unloaded and safe.

This gun was secured with a tie until MacGugan removed it, according to Bailey.

A police report didn’t indicate the person who sold the weapon, she said.

MacGugan was issued a criminal citation for reckless endangerment, a gross misdemeanor, she said.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter