Man accidentally shoots self in leg while visiting corn pit attraction in Brooklyn Park

A Circle Pines man accidentally shot himself in the leg while carrying a gun on his hip at a seasonal family attraction in Brooklyn Park, officials said.

Jerome Keenan, 38, called 911 to report what happened before he was taken to a hospital for treatment of his wound, Brooklyn Park Police Inspector Elliot Faust said. The gunfire did not strike anyone else.

The incident occurred about 11:40 a.m. Saturday at the Twin Cities Maze, 109th Avenue and Hwy. 169, police said. The gun was on Keenan's hip when it went off while he was at a corn pit where people play, Faust said.

"The victim was bending over at the waist and was removing corn from his boot when the firearm he was carrying discharged into his upper leg," the inspector said.

Faust said that not all handguns have safety mechanisms, and did not know whether Keenan's gun had one. He said police are trying to determine how the gun went off.

In an interview Monday with the Star Tribune, Keenan said he was just outside the pit when the gun went off. He said the safety on the weapon was engaged but didn't explain how the gun discharged.

Faust said Keenan has a government-issued permit to carry a firearm in public and that the firing of his handgun "does not affect his permit to carry."

Faust at first said police were not weighing charges against Keenan and considered the incident an accident. But a few hours later, the inspector said his department had decided to send the case to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office for a review of possible charges that could include reckless discharge of a firearm.

"It's just prudent to send it to the county attorney for review" without a recommendation from police, Faust said. "There are some nuances to the case. … It's not just black and white. There needs to be another eye."

Twin Cities Maze owner Bert Bouwman said his venue doesn't post signs banning guns.

"I cannot stop anybody [who has a permit to carry a firearm] from coming in," he said.

Noting that the Twin Cities Maze's final weekend is coming up, Bouwman said: "It's too early for us to make decisions at the moment."

Taylor Utterberg of Brooklyn Park said she saw Keenan, who was with another man, in the corn pit shortly before the gun went off. She spotted the gun in "a case on his pants as he was messing around in the pit."

Utterberg said she heard the gunshot and "looked over. There were about 80 people within 100 feet of that area. … I heard him say, 'I didn't touch it,' or something like that."

Tom Corradi of Maple Grove was in the pit with his grandson and two daughters when "all of a sudden, I heard this loud bang. … There were people standing right around him."

Corradi said some in his family "thought a balloon popped. I thought it was a firecracker."

He added: "I don't understand carrying a gun into a place like that and playing in this thing with little kids."