Woman shoots friend while using gun’s laser sight to play with cat

The injured man was charged for violating his own criminal bond by owning a firearm

Police wait outside an apartment where a 19-year-old woman accidentally shot a 21-year-old man in the leg with a gun after she used the firearm’s laser sight to play with a cat (screengrab)

A woman in Wisconsin accidentally shot her friend while she was using a gun's laser sight to play with a cat.

The Associated Press reports that a 19-year-old woman was charged with the negligent use of a weapon while she was visiting a friend in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday. A 21-year-old man brought a handgun to the house.

According to a witness, Jashanti Pleasant, 19 - who had been drinking - picked up the gun, turned on its laser sight, and was "pointing it at the floor to get the cat to chase it," when she accidentally fired the gun.

The Kenosha News reports that the man who brought the gun was standing in a doorway and was hit by the round.

He suffered a wound to his thigh. He then left and went to another apartment, where police found him after they were called to the scene.

The man was treated with a tourniquet to stop his bleeding before he was transported to the hospital. Officials have not provided further details regarding his condition.

He faces charges for violating his bond conditions that prohibit him from owning a firearm. He has been on bond since June 2020 after he was charged with several counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety for participating in an incident in January where shots were fired at a home. He drove the car that the shooters used to get to the house.

The woman who shot the man said that she believed the gun's magazine had been removed. She said the weapon "accidentally went off," according to a criminal complaint.

“If the magazine had not been inserted into the gun when Ms. Pleasant fired the shot, there would have been no round in the chamber later when the gun was found,” a police report said.

Ms Pleasant said she apologised to the man, "and he told her it was okay."

The woman was released on bond.