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A man who accidentally shot himself in the penis while walking through the parking lot of a Chandler grocery store last week was under the influence of prescription drugs, police believe.
Cops who responded to the August 2 incident reported that Joshua Seto, 27, seemed too calm and oblivious to pain, says Chandler Sergeant Joe Favazzo. The officers thought the man was impaired by prescription drugs.
That would help explain how Seto could make such a blunder, though police also used the incident to emphasize the importance of holsters.
Police say the man and his girlfriend had been on their way to the store at about 7:30 p.m. when the woman pulled her pink .380 caliber, semi-automatic Taurus, specially made to promote breast cancer awareness, from her purse.
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Seto took the gun and jammed into his waistband, where it went off.
The bullet struck Seto’s penis, then entered and exited his left thigh, according to a police report.
The couple didn’t immediately drive to a hospital, instead walking to a bench at the parking lot. Someone else prompted the man’s girlfriend, Cara Christopher, to call 911, Favazzo says.
“He’s still conscious, there’s just a lot of blood,” Christopher told dispatchers, who then instructed her to apply pressure to the wound with a cloth. “It looks pretty bad.”
Seto was treated at a local hospital, but police had no update on his condition as of Thursday morning.
A listed phone number in Chandler for Seto is disconnected.
