Fair Lawn Man Accidentally Shoots Self, Acqaintance

FAIR LAWN, NJ – A 40-year-old Fair Lawn man’s gun discharged while showing it to a 49-year-old Paterson man, injuring himself and the acquaintance, according to police.

On Saturday, Aug. 4 at approximately 10 p.m., the gun owner was showing his .380 caliber Beretta semiautomatic handgun to his Paterson friend, according to police, inside his residence on Rosewood Street when the gun discharged one round, striking the gun owner in his left hand and his friend in the right hip.

It was an off-duty Paterson police officer, working a security detail at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson, who alerted Fair Lawn Police about the two gunshot victims who walked into the medical center for treatment.

A female friend of both parties transported them to the medical center, police said. The handgun in question was recovered at the scene. Both victims were receiving treatment at St. Joseph’s at approximately 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Aug. 5.