Man's Gun Discharged, Struck Neighbor's Apartment: Stamford PD

STAMFORD, CT — A Stamford man was arrested Monday night after the gun he was cleaning accidentally discharged, which sent a 9 mm round through the wall of his apartment and into a neighboring apartment, police said. No injuries were reported.

Hector Batista, 53, was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and two counts of being in possession of illegal large capacity magazines, according to Capt. Richard Conklin of the Stamford Police Department. Conklin said Batista didn't report the incident.

Conklin said officers received a call around 11 p.m. Monday night from a resident at an apartment building on Glenbrook Road who said they were out and returned home to find a hole in the wall with plaster blown out of it.

"An investigation revealed that Batista, who had a valid pistol permit, was interacting with his firearm, and a round went off and went through the wall into this neighbor's apartment," Conklin said, adding that Batista admitted that the gun did discharge when he was handling it. "Batista didn't report this... We only learned of this when the party got home and reported it."

Officers also found that Batista had large capacity magazines, which are prohibited, Conklin said.

Conklin called the incident a "dangerous situation", and said incidents like this need to be reported immediately.

"When a round goes off like that and goes through a wall, you have to first check if anyone was struck on the other side," Conklin said. "It's something we need to be notified immediately about so we can follow up on that and make sure no one's been injured."

Conklin noted that Batista's firearm and pistol permit were seized, and the permit will be forwarded to the Connecticut State Police for revocation. Batista was able to post a $1,000 bond, and is scheduled to appear in court March 8.