Published: June 29, 2009 08:54 pm      

Local officers avoid injury when shotgun discharges

Somerset — Two police officers escaped what could have been serious injuries or even death Friday when a shotgun discharged, barely missing both of them.

A Somerset Police officer assigned to work with the Lake Cumberland Area Drug Task Force and a Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy, whose names are not being released, were executing a search warrant at the residence of John T. Preston, 66, in the Beaver Creek area of Wayne County.

Preston was suspected of marijuana trafficking and money laundering.

LCADTF Director David Gilbert says the search warrant execution began without incident. More than one officer at the scene asked Preston whether there were any booby traps, dangerous chemicals or other hazards at the residence, and Preston said there were none.

But when the Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to remove a firearm from a gun storage cabinet, it discharged. The trigger mechanism of a fully-cocked 12 gauge shotgun had been attached to a string, which caused the gun to fire when it was moved.

The gun shot a hole in the top front edge of the cabinet and in the ceiling of the residence — and it missed both officers by inches.

The officers were examined by the Wayne County/Monticello EMS Department and were later taken to the Wayne County Hospital, where they were checked for hearing damage and other injuries and later released.

While agents were on the scene, they found more than $34,000 hidden in a farm silo, along with approximately six pounds of processed marijuana and numerous marijuana plants. The plants and processed marijuana had an estimated value of $57,500.

The plants were destroyed by the Kentucky Army National Guard, the U.S. Forest Service Aerial Unit, the Forest Service’s KY Unit, and a Kentucky State Police eradication team.

Federal charges concerning marijuana distribution and illegal booby traps are pending in the investigation