Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Locust Police Chief Jeff Shew has provided an update about a shooting inside the Walmart in Locust Saturday night.

At about 8:25 p.m., Chadwick Brattain of Stanfield was shopping in the grocery section of Walmart.

At the time he was openly carrying two “six-shooter” revolvers in holsters placed on both sides of his waist in a “western gun belt” with additional 45 caliber rounds stored on the belt, Shew said.

While attempting to retrieve a grocery item, one of the revolvers fell from its minimum retention holster to the floor landing in a way that the hammer of the firearm engaged, causing it to discharge a round into a pipe along the ceiling of the business, Shew said.

Due to the negligent unsafe carry of the firearms that resulted in an accidental discharge that damaged property, Brattain was charged with misdemeanor damage to property and a NC State Statute (NCGS 14-4) misdemeanor violation of City of Locust Firearms Ordinance which prohibits the discharging of a firearm by the general public within 900 feet of any building that is occupied (131.020).

He was arrested and booked into Stanly County Jail the same evening of incident on a $5,000 secured bond.

“Based on the facts involved in the incident, those were the only two applicable charges that could be charged,” Shew said. “The Locust Police Department very much supports and values the 2nd Amendment rights of all citizens who can legally possess firearms, but our department also believes strongly in the sound practice of safe firearm handling and maximum gun safety.”