Suit: Police employee accidentally shot

A British civilian police worker is suing the Thames Valley Police after he was accidentally shot by a police marksman during a safety demonstration.

Keith Tilbury, 51, a police control-room operator, claims in his High Court suit that he was attending a demonstration with about a dozen staff members while police Constable David Micklethwaite displayed various firearms to the crowd, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The suit says Micklethwaite was showing off a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, the gun famous for being used by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry series of movies, when the weapon accidentally fired and knocked Tilbury across the room from the impact.

Doctors at John Radcliffe Hospital, where Tilbury received life-saving surgery, said the bullet had missed the vital organs and passed straight through the victim’s body, the newspaper said.

Micklethwaite and a second police official told bosses they had believed the gun was not loaded before the demonstration.

The suit is seeking nearly $450,000 in damages.