An Ohio man accidentally shot himself at a dentist’s office this week while he was under the effects of the drug nitrous oxide.
James White, 72, thought he heard his cellphone ring, and when he tried to answer it, he fired his gun, WCMH-TV reported.
A 911 call was made, and an employee of New Carlisle Dental Group told the dispatcher that “we have a patient here who accidentally shot himself with a gun.”
The dispatcher then responded, “Oh!”
White, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, shot himself in the hand, but the bullet also grazed his stomach.
He was hospitalized, but his wounds were classified as not serious.
He could be charged with using a weapon while intoxicated, the Springfield News-Sun reported.
“Going into a doctor’s office where you might be placed under some kind of medication, you might not want to carry a weapon in there,” Sgt. Christina Evans-Fisher, with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, told WCMH. “Think of your safety and the safety of those around you.”
“If you’re going to be put under nitrous, then you think twice about taking your gun into the dental office,” a neighbor who lives close to the dentist office, but was not identified, told WCMH.
Nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas or NOS, is the chemical compound N2O, and it’s used for analgesic and anaesthetic purposes. It has also been used recreationally.
