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WATCH the moment a judge from a shooting club accidentally shoots a contestant immediately after doing a safety demonstration.
The incident happened during a shooting competition in September in Godawa, Poland involving members of the Bydgoszcz Shooting Club LOK.
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Footage shows a judge giving a safety demonstration to participants, showing them how to cock the firearm and safely eject the cartridge after taking a shot.
He then talked through other elements of the firearm before a colleague loaded the pump-action shotgun while talking to him and another contestant.
The shotgun was then passed carefully to the gun club member before the judge decided to take it off him to carry out further checks on it.
While doing so, he held the gun above a wooden table, with the barrel pointing in the direction of another contestant who was loading up his gun and a gun association member who was assisting him.
Suddenly, the gun fired and the 68-year-old was hit in the bum at point-blank range as a cloud of white smoke emerged out of the firearm.
One of the participants shouted “Oh f***” after the sudden discharge.
The injured man immediately fell backwards onto the floor, knocking over the table.
He fell under the table before rolling onto his side and putting his hand to his right buttock where he had been shot.
As the video ended, the judges and other officials went to assist him.
His injuries were not life-threatening and the local police called the incident an “unintentional exposure of a person to direct danger of loss of life or serious damage to health.”
The case has since been passed on to the district prosecutor’s office in Żnin a press officer confirmed.
The vice president of the Bydgoszcz Shooting Club initially refused to give comment but eventually confirmed that the accidental shooting took place, calling it “an unfortunate accident.”
Strong criticism has been launched at the judge after failing to ensure the safety was on before handling the weapon.
The situation could have been much more serious, others have said, as at one point, the gun was pointing at more vital areas.
On X, one person said: “The barrel was aimed at the guy’s head 1 second before the shot.
“It could have ended more tragically than the guy’s a**.”
“For aiming (even an unloaded weapon) at anyone – the ‘judge’ should lose all his licenses,” another said.
“For something like that you’re thrown out of the shooting range in 5 seconds…”
The judge and other officials at the event were pictured wearing orange visibility vests with “PZSS Sędzia” on the back.
PZSS is the Polish Sports Shooting Association but the association has spoken out claiming that it did not organise this competition or send its judges there.
Spokesperson Włodzimierz Gałecki told SportoweFakty: “These are not our vests.
“We have completely different ones, modeled on those from ISSF (World Shooting Sport Organization ).
“Here we are dealing with a road vest, with added inscriptions.
“We did not organize these competitions and have nothing to do with it.”
“From what you can see in the recording, the participants are behaving inappropriately,” the spokesman continued.
“Safety is always our priority. Anyone who breaks any rules will receive a red card and will be disqualified from further participation in the competition.”
Calls have been made for the judge to have his license revoked and an investigation launched against him.
The Trybuna Polska Gazeta said: “This incident has exposed significant problems in observing safety rules during shooting competitions.
“Questions arise about the responsibility of organizers and procedures used at such events.”
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