A man has been left fighting for his life after being accidentally shot point-blank in the chest at a shooting range.
Shocking CCTV footage captures the moment a man picks up a handgun from a table while two others stand within touching distance.
As he handles the weapon, it suddenly fires – sending one of the men crashing to the floor clutching his chest.
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The horrified man who fired the shot then scrambles to pull his phone from his pocket and raise the alarm.
The shooting happened inside a club in Toledo, Brazil, on Saturday (29 August).
The 37-year-old victim was helped by people at the scene before being rushed to hospital.
He remains in intensive care in a serious condition.
According to investigators, both the victim and the man who fired the gun were visitors to the club.
The 31-year-old who fired the shot is reportedly authorised to collect firearms and take part in sport shooting or hunting.
He was questioned by police but was not arrested, as reported by Need To Know.
The legally registered firearm was seized and will undergo forensic examination.
Police said the shot was fired in an administrative area where handling firearms is not permitted.
Detective Fábio Freire said the incident involved a sequence of failures to follow basic firearm safety rules.
These included keeping a finger off the trigger, pointing the barrel towards a safe area and treating every firearm as though it were loaded.
According to Freire, the 31-year-old had initially left the gun without a round in the chamber.
The victim then allegedly reinserted the magazine, chambered a round, removed the magazine and left the weapon on the table.
The 31-year-old apparently believed the gun was still incapable of firing before pulling the trigger.
Police said evidence gathered so far points towards an accidental discharge.
The shooting club said in a statement: “The circumstances surrounding the isolated incident are being investigated with due caution and responsibility, and the details will be clarified once the investigation has been completed.”
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