Panic at Atlanta gun show after vendor accidentally fires weapon

ATLANTA - It was chaos inside a gun show in southeast Atlanta after a gun accidentally went off, creating a panic for those who were inside.

Police charged one man with reckless conduct.

“Am I hit? Did I get shot? where’s my wife? Do I get down or are there more shots coming?” Thomas Heisner said.

Those are just a few of the thoughts running through Thomas Heisner’s mind as he hid under a table at the Gun and Knife show.

Heisner was able to capture video of the scary moments after the shot went off.

“A gunshot went off across the building and everyone froze. You could hear a pin drop at that point,” Heisner said.

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It happened Sunday at the Atlanta Expo Building off Jonesboro Road in southeast Atlanta.

The video shows people hiding under tables as no one knew what happened.

“People were jumping under tables and hiding under vendor booths. The first table I went to I pulled back the cloth and there were people hiding under there so I crawled to another table and hid under there,” Heisner said.

Heisner is no stranger to gun shows.

“There are strict rules and police at the door as you enter and check every weapon as you come in. They put a safety strap through your weapon to make sure it can’t be fire,” he said.

So the big question is how did this happen?

“The person that had the negligent discharge was actually a vendor that brought in a concealed carry weapon against the rules,” Heisner said. “They were demonstrating holstering of the weapon and that’s when the negligent discharge happened. It shot a hole in the floor and I don’t know where the bullet went.”

Atlanta police were called and officials tell FOX 5 they charged 81-year-old Riley Kester with reckless conduct.

“Rule number one of a gun is to always treat it as if it’s loaded,” Heisner said.

Heisner said he’s glad no one was hurt but says it was a scary experience.

“When you hear that shot go off. It’s scary. That’s the last thing you want to hear at a gun show is that,” he said.

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