ROME — A New Hampshire man is recuperating after shooting himself in the buttocks while watching TV Friday night, police said.

Kyle Bassler, 20, of Derry, N.H., was taken to Inland Hospital in Waterville, where he was treated for a gunshot wound and released, Kennebec County Sheriff’s Deputy Nathan McNally said in a release.

Capt. Daniel Davies of the sheriff’s office said no charges will be filed in the case.

The shooting occurred around 7:30 p.m. Friday at a camp on West Point Lane. Police were not notified for another two hours, when Inland emergency room staff reported an apparent accidental shooting of one of their patients.

Bassler told McNally that he had been hunting a nuisance squirrel outside the camp with a .22-caliber handgun. Bassler put the handgun in a holster, which was fitted inside his pants, and went back inside the camp.

“Bassler claimed that he sat in a chair and was watching TV when he heard the gun go off and felt a subsequent burning sensation on his backside,” McNally said. “Bassler stood up and realized that the firearm had discharged and that he was, in fact, shot.”

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Friends and family at the camp helped get Bassler to the hospital, where medical staff removed the bullet from Bassler’s buttocks, McNally said.

Attempts to reach Bassler on Monday were unsuccessful.

Police said Bassler was discharged from the hospital and was expected to make a full recovery from the injury.

Craig Crosby–621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com


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