SF man cleaning gun accidentally shoots neighbor

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A San Francisco man accidentally fired his gun as he was cleaning it Wednesday night, shooting his downstairs neighbor in the leg, officials said.

The 24-year-old weapon owner was not arrested — but he was issued a citation for unlawfully discharging a firearm, said Officer Giselle Talkoff, a police spokeswoman.

The man, who wasn’t identified, was cleaning his gun in his apartment on the 300 block of Serrano Drive, near San Francisco State University, and didn’t realize there was a bullet in the chamber, officials said.

About 10:30 p.m., he unintentionally fired the weapon, and the bullet zipped through the floor and injured his 63-year-old neighbor in the unit below. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Talkoff said.

Talkoff encouraged gun owners to check that no bullets are loaded before cleaning firearms, and to keep their fingers away from the trigger as they clean.

“We always ask people to practice firearm safety,” Talkoff said. “Even when cleaning your gun, if it’s legally owned and registered, you should always be careful and double-check everything.”

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov