Harbor Point man shoots self while cleaning gun in Stamford

A mix of exterior shots of the Harbor Point apartment buildings around Commons Park, in the South End of Stamford, Connecticut on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. A mix of exterior shots of the Harbor Point apartment buildings around Commons Park, in the South End of Stamford, Connecticut on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Harbor Point man shoots self while cleaning gun in Stamford 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

STAMFORD — A Harbor Point man accidentally shot himself while cleaning his semiautomatic pistol over the weekend.

Police were sent to 1 Harbor Point with lights at 8:30 p.m. Friday on the report of a 23-year-old man who accidentally shot himself.

Sgt. Jennifer Pinto said the police response came in seconds.

“As he heard this call come in, a patrol officer was going toward the building and saw the man come out. He was clearly bleeding from his hand with a towel wrapped around it. He was in shock asking for an ambulance,” Pinto said.

The officer helped put a tourniquet on the man’s left arm in an attempt to slow the bleeding while an ambulance arrived.

The man was taken to Stamford Hospital and then transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital, Pinto said.

Earlier in the week the shooting victim took his gun to the range and returned to his apartment and put the .380 Ruger semiautomatic pistol into his gun safe. Then on Friday night he decided to clean the gun.

But while the man was cleaning it, the hammer of the pistol was pulled back. In order to release the hammer the man pulled the trigger, not realizing there was a bullet in the chamber.

The man’s permit to carry the pistol and the pistol were seized by police while a review is completed on the man’s license to carry. No charges have been filed in the case.