RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA : Deputy’s Wife Shot When Handgun Falls

The wife of an Orange County sheriff’s deputy was slightly wounded when she dropped her husband’s small-caliber handgun and it went off, authorities said Wednesday.

Sheriff’s Lt. Hector Rivera said Deputy Rob Schneider got home from work about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and headed out to take their dog for a walk. He handed his wife, Lene Schneider, a .380-caliber handgun, concealed in a wallet-type holster, that he uses as an off-duty or backup weapon, Rivera said.

“She dropped the wallet,” Rivera said. “When she did that, it landed in such a fashion that it discharged. A bullet struck her wrist and grazed her cheek on the right side.”

Schneider was treated at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center and released.

Rivera said that when Rob Schneider heard the shot, he ran back in the house, saw that his wife was injured and called deputies and paramedics.

Rivera said deputies choose their backup weapons. Schneider’s style of weapon and holster is authorized by the department, he said.