Video: Off-duty police officer accidentally shoots himself in a lift

CCTV shows the officer discharging his weapon, with the bullet ricocheting off the wall and hitting him in the stomach

(Cincinnati Police Department)

When you're off-duty, it must be a relief for a policeman to let their mind relax and forget about law and order.

However, there's off-duty, and then there's absent-mindedness; and if you are going to switch-off, make sure you take your finger off the trigger first.

Police in Cincinnati have released CCTV of Officer Darryl Jouett of the Erlanger Police Department in Kentucky accidentally shooting himself in a life on his way back home from dinner with his wife on Saturday.

He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center but his injuries were not life-threatening.

Erlanger Police Department said Jouett has been with the department for over 25 years.

Video courtesy of Cincinnati Police Department.