‘It’s like the Wild West over here!’: Philly Sheriff’s Office civilian employee accidentally fires gun in office.

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, a few hours before Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal and her staff would deliver their yearly budget testimony to City Council, one of Bilal’s staffers fired a gun inside the sheriff’s office.

“Discharge of a firearm,” a responding police officer is heard on police radio telling a dispatcher.

Sgt. Eric Gripp, a Philadelphia police spokesperson, said the preliminary investigation shows that a civilian employee working for Bilal “accidentally discharged a personally owned firearm while at his desk.”

Gripp said the staffer sustained a minor cut to his leg when the 9mm bullet “grazed his thigh, then entered the chair he was sitting in.”

“It’s like the Wild West over here!” said one sheriff’s office employee, who was not authorized to speak to reporters and requested anonymity to do so.

The unintentional desk pop did not result in any other injuries.

Police declined to name the shooter, but three sources familiar with the incident identified him as Allen Craig, who is listed in city payroll records as an administrative assistant with a $70,000 annual salary.

Craig could not immediately be reached for comment. Two sheriff’s office employees said they believe Craig works in human resources.

Bilal, whose office distributes free gun locks and promotes safe firearm practices, declined to answer most questions Thursday. Through a spokesperson, Bilal confirmed the accidental shooting and said she and her staff take “all incidents involving firearms seriously and are committed to a thorough and transparent review of the circumstances.”

It was not clear Thursday why Craig, who is not a law enforcement official, was carrying a gun in the sheriff’s office, or whether he was authorized to do so.

Two employees in the office said that under Bilal’s predecessor, Sheriff Jewell Williams, non-sworn employees were prohibited from carrying guns in the office.

A 1995 executive order issued by then-Mayor Ed Rendell prohibits civilian city employees from carrying guns while working unless specifically authorized.

Gripp said Central Detectives are investigating the sheriff’s office shooting, not the police unit that handles officer-involved shootings, because the employee was not a sworn officer.

Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the good-government group Committee of Seventy, on Thursday described the shooting as “one more reason this office needs a complete and total overhaul.”

“Unacceptable does not even begin to describe this incident,” Cristella said in a statement. “This office has repeatedly failed to meet its basic functions and now their blatant disregard for any type of rules, regulations or standards, including those related to basic safety, has put its staff at risk.”

In March, the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, Philadelphia’s fiscal watchdog, joined the Committee of Seventy in calling for abolishing the sheriff’s office as an independently elected office.

Since Bilal took office in 2020, the office has struggled to perform tasks that were once considered routine. Courthouse security incidents skyrocketed due to a shortage of deputies in court buildings, and people who have purchased properties at sheriff sales have waited up to a year to get a copy of the deed, among other problems.

After the shooting on Tuesday, Bilal went before City Council and requested nearly $20 million in new funding, as well as a new training academy for deputy recruits.

The shooting did not come up during the hearing.

The Inquirer reported Wednesday that Bilal also wants to relocate her office from Center City to 2450 W. Hunting Park Ave., a multistory industrial building in Tioga that was formerly part of the Budd Co. manufacturing complex.

Officials in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration have so far declined to comment on Bilal’s plans for a new headquarters and training academy.