Shoppers recall silence, fear in Lynnwood Lowe's store when man shot himself in testicles

For a few seconds, there was total silence at Lowe's Home Improvement in Lynnwood just after the gunshot went off at 12:30 on Sunday afternoon.

"It was dead quiet," remembers Jim Fischer, a Shoreline Fire Department paramedic who happened to be at the checkout line with his wife, Kim. They're doing a bathroom remodel.

These days, you hear a loud bang while shopping, and it's hard not to think the worst.

"I'm thinking, if it's an active shooter, we're bolting," Fischer says.

Then a Lowe's employee shouted for somebody to call an ambulance, that somebody had shot himself.

OK, Fischer decided, I better go see if I can help the victim.

It turned out to be a story that by the next day would go viral on the Web:

A 41-year-old Lynnwood man had accidentally shot himself in the testicles at Lowe's.

For those at the scene, it would be something they'll remember as initially scary, and then, as they learned the details ... the guy did what?

Helping the victim, who was wearing black sweatpants, Fischer asked how it happened.

"He says, 'It was in my waistband, and I felt it starting to slip, reached for it, and I must have positioned my finger so the trigger went off," Fischer remembered Thursday.

A Lynnwood police report about the incident says the gun was a Glock 30, a compact pistol described by the manufacturer as "the legendary .45 caliber."

The man had a concealed-weapons permit to carry the gun, said Shannon Sessions, spokeswoman for Lynnwood police.

The Times is not naming the man because no crime was committed.

The report says the man was "joking with staff members" at Harborview Medical Center after medics took him there.

But on Wednesday afternoon, back at his apartment after being released from the hospital Tuesday, he wasn't in much of a joking mood.

"I'm up. I'm walking. I'm good. I don't want to talk to you," he said.

He then closed the door.

Harborview said it could not disclose the extent of his injuries.

Fischer says that as he helped the victim as they waited for medics to arrive — by applying pressure to the wound, and by cutting away the sweatpants while leaving on the underwear — he could see the groin area was injured, and that there was a wound in middle of the left thigh, and swelling on the top of the left foot.

He surmised that was the trajectory of the bullet.

Those familiar with guns wonder why someone would carry a loaded pistol in his sweatpants.

"It's not the brightest way to carry it. Sweatpants are loose and not held against your body by a belt," said Dave Workman, senior editor of Gun Week and author of "Washington State Gun Rights and Responsibilities."

Workman said the bullet wounded the man "at literally point-blank. Think about that for a second."

The Glock 30 sells for about $630 and weighs 1-½ pounds empty, 2.1 pounds when carrying its 10-round capacity.

Glock advertises the pistol as having a "Safe Action" system. For example, it includes a mechanism that prevents unintentional firing if the pistol is accidentally dropped on the floor.

But Glock also warns, "One operating element — one rule. Finger away from the trigger ... "

Workman says that in the "adrenaline rush" of reaching for a gun that's slipped, it's natural for the index finger to then also close on the trigger.

Then, bang.

For the shoppers who were at Lowe's on Sunday afternoon, it'll certainly be a memorable spring Sunday.

Kim Fischer will remember that after deciding there wasn't a random shooter in the store, "nobody got panicky. There was nobody running down the floor screaming."

What Michael McDougall, of Snohomish, who was there with his wife, Connie, and their 5-year-old daughter, Bridgette, will remember also is that initial moment of fear.

"Initially I thought it was maybe gang-related. I was afraid for my wife and daughter, and I thought, 'I think we should be leaving.' " he says.

He commends the Lowe's employees for their calm actions in getting help. A manager at Lowe's said store personnel are not commenting on the incident.

And he remembers the initial scream, "Oh, my God, I shot myself in the groin!"

That's a quote you remember for years.

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com