Quick draw sends bullet into neighbor's house

A man practicing a quick draw routine with his .40 caliber semi-Automatic handgun fired a round that narrowly missed hitting a 17-year-old girl in the head as she stood talking to her grandfather Dec 2, according to authorities.

The alleged shooter told police that he had not realized that a bullet was chambered as he practiced quick draw technique with a loaded Springfield .40 cal.  concealed in a sliding holster in his East Bremerton bedroom.

Kitsap County Sheriff's Deputies said the .40 cal. round fired by William Wallace, of the 8000 block of Hickory Place, passed from his bedroom through a hedge row into and through a neighbors exterior wall, through the families sewing room door and lodged in a door jam near the head of a young woman standing in her grandfather's second-floor hallway.

The bullet lodged near where four other grandchildren were gathered, deputies said.

After seeing the the exit hole in the side of his house illustrated with a flashlight, deputies said Wallace lowered his head and admitted to firing the shot.

Wallace left the loaded magazine in the pistol for weight and balance, deputies said.

Wallace told deputies that with 10 years of active duty military he had "extensive firearms training."

Deputies took one handgun from Wallace's home and left one there. They advised him that the court system would address the status of his concealed weapons permit.

Contact Bremerton Patriot Editor Greg Skinner at gskinner@bremertonpatriot.com or 1-360-308-9161 (ext 5050).

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