Body camera video released of Gastonia officer 'accidentally' shooting wrong person

GASTONIA, N.C. — Channel 9 just received body camera footage of the night an officer shot the wrong person in Gastonia.

In the video from July, an officer chased a suspect who ran into a home on South Gray Street.

As the camera turns away, you hear a gunshot, and then the officer starts cursing and says his finger slipped.

Watch the video above as reporter Ken Lemon explains the body camera video he received.

The suspect’s sister was shot as she went to open the door.

District Attorney Locke Bell sent a letter to the police chief this month saying he will not charge Officer Stephen Whisnant, who injured Brittany Lynn, when he shot into the home on South Gray Street.

[Gastonia police department taking heat after unarmed woman shot by police]

Whisnant was at the Gray Street home to arrest Jarvis Lynn when he accidentally shot Lynn's sister, Brittany, according to a news release from Bell.

Brittany Lynn said she opened the door for Whisnant with her hands in the air and he opened fire. She was shot three times.

In a letter to the Gastonia's police chief, Bell wrote, “It was an accidental discharge, which appears to have happened as the officer was running and reaching for the storm door."

Lynn was treated at a hospital and later released.

Whisnant is back at work after being placed on administrative leave.

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