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Madison County prosecutor’s gun goes off in Texas Roadhouse

ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — The Madison County prosecutor says his gun fired from his pocket and blew a hole in his pants as he walked out of a restaurant Saturday.

Prosecutor Rodney Cummings says the accident happened at the Texas Roadhouse on Scatterfield Road. No one was injured.

Aaron Taffner said he heard the gun go off while he ate dinner at the restaurant.

“It was a pretty scary situation,” Taffner said.

Taffner said he ran into the parking to get his gun from his car. As he walked back in, he said he saw Cummings walking out.

“He had a big hole in the side of his shorts,” Taffner said.

Taffner said he called 911 and the police showed up. He said they briefly questioned him, his friend and Cummings. They left without giving Cummings a ticket.

“If it was an average citizen, I think it would have been taken a lot more seriously,” Taffner said.

“It was an accident,” Cummings said. “That’s not a crime or a violation. It’s an accident.”

Cummings said he started to walk out of the restaurant with a 9 millimeter in his pocket. He said he usually keeps the safety on, but the safety might have come off in his pocket.

“I heard a loud noise and I really didn’t know what happened,” Cummings said. “I thought maybe a circuit breaker blew or something like that.”

He said he walked outside and saw a hole in his pants. The manager came out and asked what happened.

“We went back in together, assessed the scene and made sure there was no problem and no damage to the property,” Cummings explained.

Cummings said the manager told him he could leave. In the parking lot, Cummings said he realized two men called the police. He said he stayed and spoke to officers and they told him he’s free to go.

“We don’t charge people with crimes for accidents,” he said.

The prosecutor said during his 15 years as an Anderson police officer he developed a habit of keeping a bullet in the chamber of his gun. He says he’s ditching that habit. He also plans to use a holster and have an expert examine the gun, which Cummings purchased three weeks ago to make sure it’s safe.

24-Hour News 8 reached out to the Anderson Police Department for their account of what happened. The department did not respond Monday.