STURGEON, Mo. (AP) - Authorities say a central Missouri officer has shot and wounded a 35-year-old man who appeared to be armed with a handgun that turned out to be a BB gun.
The Boone County sheriff's office said in a news release that the shooting happened early Thursday while Sturgeon police and Boone County sheriff's deputies were investigating a report that an intoxicated man had assaulted a woman. The release says the Sturgeon officer shot the man once in the stomach after he pointed the BB gun.
Sheriff's Det. Tom O'Sullivan said of the BB gun that "anyone would have assumed on first glance that it was a real firearm."
The man was taken to a hospital. The extent of his injuries weren't released.
Both the suspect and the officer are white.