It is a call that police officers, while trained to handle, never want to hear come in. Shots fired.  

Monday night, the Weyburn Police Service received a call from a hotel in Weyburn on Sims Avenue. One of the guests of the hotel reported a shot had been fired into their room, from the room next door. 

“The bullet did transfer through the wall, and through that person’s headboard, very near that person,” explained Deputy Chief Brent VanDeSype.  

When the call came to the Weyburn Police Service, they went into action. The hotel was evacuated, save for the room that the shot had been fired from, and members of the WPS were joined by the Joint Tactical Support Team, made up of officers from Weyburn and Estevan.  

Police followed protocol. A perimeter was established, and they attempted to make contact with the people that were in the room. However, there was no answer. Police kept the perimeter around the hotel, and were hoping for a peaceful resolution to what was turning into an armed standoff.  

The occupants of the room were confirmed by police to be three men who had been out for the day hunting gophers. When they were out hunting, one of their rifles had been having issues. Once back in the hotel room, they were putting the rifles away, when the firearm discharged.  

“The males had indicated that they weren’t aware that the bullet had made it through the headboard and the wall and into the room next door,” VanDeSype said.  

So why did they refuse to answer the door? 

It turns out, they weren’t even in the room. 

“They had actually went out for supper shortly after it went off, and of course that caused a bit of concern because there was no response in the room when police arrived,” noted VanDeSype.  

While the room was vacant, at the time that was not known by the police on the scene, and they followed all the precautions needed to ensure the safety of the hotel guests, themselves and the general public.  

“It was treated that we had an individual in the room that was possibly armed with a firearm and we are unknown of their intentions.” 

With the police setting up the perimeter around the hotel, and the room, the three men returned from their meal, unaware of what was happening. It was then the reality of the situation became apparent. 

“Returning after supper and realizing it was their room that the police were involved with, and with the hotel staff identifying the individuals, we were able to confirm that there was no one in the room,” VanDeSype stated.  

The three men were taken into custody, as while the gun going off was completely accidental, it was a case of the situation that should never have happened to begin with, according to VanDeSype.  

“There’s never too much safety when it comes to using a firearm,” he said. “Always make sure that you know when you are hunting that it is pointing it in the safe direction, and when you’re done hunting to make sure that it’s check and double checked that it’s clear, it’s safe and it’s locked.” 

The three men, one from Saskatchewan and two from British Columbia were charged with unsafe storage of firearms. The man who accidentally discharged the rifle was charged with careless use of a firearm. While the three had all of their appropriate licenses for firearms, VanDeSype explained if they had treated the firearms safely and correctly, no charges would have been laid in this situation.