Gift Gun Wounds Salvation Army Volunteer

A Salvation Army volunteer was in critical condition Tuesday night after a fellow volunteer accidentally discharged a gun and hit him in the head at an agency drop site in El Cajon, police said.

Connie Wayne (C.W.) Overby, 51, was working alongside James Irwin Brower, 61, of Alpine at a Salvation Army trailer behind the Kaelins Market on East Main Street when a small pistol fell out of a bag of donated belongings, according to Sheri Naumann of the El Cajon police.

Overby picked up the gun, Naumann said, and, as he was examining it, he accidentally pulled the trigger, hitting Brower in the head. Brower was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center by Life Flight helicopter.

Russ Russell, director of community relations with the Salvation Army of San Diego County, said it is very unusual for the Salvation Army to receive donations of firearms. He did not know whether a receipt had been written for the bag from which the gun apparently dropped. Receipts are only written on request, he said, and, without a receipt, there will be no way to trace the bag.

“It is just like someone who would drop off money in a kettle,” he said. “The only way we would know if they gave us anything is if they gave us a check with their name and address on it.”

Russell said the charitable organization has liability insurance that covers volunteers who participate in its programs. He didn’t know how long Overby and Brower have been volunteers, but he said both have been “very productive.”

“We grieve with Mr. Brower and his family,” Russell said.