Police: Gun-Safety Instructor Fires 1911 Colt 45 Inside School Cafeteria

A gun safety instructor may face charges of discharging a firearm within Stillwater city limits after he accidentally fired a 1911 Colt 45 handgun inside Salem Lutheran School just prior to teaching a class.

No one was injured during the incident.

Stillwater Police were called to the school to assist the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources during an investigation that a gun that had been discharged in the school cafeteria Thursday evening just prior to the start of a gun safety class.

The gun safety instructor, a 76-year-old Cottage Grove man, was “very apologetic” to police and school officials, saying, “you gentlemen can’t imagine the embarrassment I feel towards myself for what took place” last night. “I am completely sorry for the incident that took place.”

That incident, according to the police report, started when someone in the class approached the teacher asking about a 1911 Colt 45 handgun that was on display in the instructor's gun case.

He told the teacher he wasn’t familiar with the gun and questioned the teacher about it being partially cocked.

At that point the instructor picked up the 1911 Colt 45 and showed the man the different types of safeties on the gun—all while pointing it away from the eight kids and their parents who were getting ready for the class to begin.

While the teacher was explaining the different types of safeties on the gun, the handgun discharged, causing a bullet to go through the wall of the cafeteria.

The instructor told police "he assumed the weapon was empty," the report states.

The witness who was asking questions about the gun told police the instructor “used good muzzle control” and at no time “was the barrel of the gun ever pointed towards anyone.”

Gun safety has been taught at Salem for more than a decade through the Minnesota DNR. This is the first incident of its kind.

The incident was forwarded to the city attorney’s office for review of possible charges.