Lancaster, Ohio: Police say an instructor at a gun safety class in Ohio has accidentally shot a student.

The Columbus Dispatch reports 73-year-old Terry J. Dunlap Sr. was demonstrating a handgun at a training facility on Saturday when he fired a bullet that ricocheted off a desk and into the right arm of 26-year-old Michael Piemonte.

A gun safety instructor has accidentally shot a student in Ohio. Credit:Lawrence Dutrieux

The student says the .38-calibre bullet hit him between his elbow and armpit. He says many of the students in the class were nurses who helped stabilise him before he was transported to a Columbus hospital.

Mr Piemonte tells the newspaper it appears Mr Dunlap didn't know the gun was loaded. Mr Dunlap hasn't responded to requests for comment.

A police report lists the shooting as accidental.

Associated Press