PEINo one was hurt when a Charlottetown police officer’s service handgun somehow fired Thursday morning while the officer was on duty outside the provincial correctional centre.Investigators have ruled out criminality, now looking at cause of the dischargeRyan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Sep 05, 2025 5:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoNo one was injured after a Charlottetown police officer’s gun fired a single shot while in its holster Thursday. The incident happened outside of the Provincial Correctional Centre in Milton Station. (Pat Martel/CBC)No injuries were reported after a Charlottetown police officer’s service handgun went off on Thursday morning — while still in the holster.It happened as the on-duty officer was getting out of his police vehicle near the Provincial Correctional Centre in Milton Station.In a statement Friday, a “deeply concerned” Charlottetown Chief of Police Jennifer McCarron said the “holstered handgun was not being manipulated” by the officer at the time of the shot, which was reported around 11:30 a.m. Thursday.RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Gavin Moore told CBC News investigators have seen video of the incident, and have ruled out “any human error, any human action, any potential criminality” in the case.RCMP asked to investigate how a Charlottetown police officer’s gun managed to go off in its holsterRCMP media officer Cpl. Gavin Moore (shown) says the force’s armoury will examine a Charlottetown police officer’s firearm for clues about what made it go off while still in its holster. The officer was on-duty at the time, getting out of a cruiser near the province’s jail in Milton Vale. Nobody was hurt. The RCMP are involved because in Canada, neighbouring police forces are often asked to look into incidents involving on-duty officers to maintain the impartiality of the investigation. “There was absolutely nothing that the officer did that would appear to induce the firearm to go off,” Moore said. Moore said now the investigation will now shift to the weapon.”The firearm is in the possession of the Major Crime Unit and they’ll then send this off to the RCMP armoury to examine.”‘A shocking surprise’Moore said the incident was “a shocking surprise to those officers, to the officer that this occurred to.”It is also very rare.”This is not something that is common, this is not something that I’ve ever experienced in my service — and thankfully for that,” he said.”Safety is the first thought as a police officer. We want to ensure that our officers are certainly equipped with safe equipment and that these incidents don’t happen.”Moore did not disclose anything about the firearm, such as how old it was. ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College Journalism program and a web writer at CBC P.E.I.With files from Tony Davis
RCMP investigating after Charlottetown officer’s gun goes off in its holster outside jail
