34-year-old Milw. man charged after gun discharges inside store

RACINE (WITI) -- 34-year-old Marvin Jackson of Milwaukee has been charged in connection with an incident in which a gun was dropped at Burlington Coat Factory in Racine over the weekend, and a round was discharged.

Jackson faces one count of negligent handling of a weapon -- a misdemeanor.

Racine police said on Sunday, December 8th two individuals turned themselves in after the incident that occurred on Saturday.

Police say Jackson and a woman were shopping inside the store when Jackson took off his coat and handed it to the woman. At some point, police say a handgun fell out of the coat pocket, landed on the floor and a round was discharged.

Police say a metal fixture in the store was struck — but no one was injured.

Police say Jackson picked up the gun and both parties fled the store.

Images of the two were captured on surveillance video, and on Sunday, after Jackson and the woman saw their photos online, they turned themselves in to Racine police.

Jackson is a valid CCW permit holder. A criminal complaint in the case says Jackson told officials he has the weapon for protection because he is a bouncer at a nightclub in Milwaukee.

The complaint says Jackson told officials he has a holster that he typically keeps the weapon in, but on the morning of the Burlington Coat Factory incident, Jackson said he was in a hurry and just placed the weapon in his jacket pocket.

Jackson was charged because officials say he had a responsibility to secure his weapon in a safe fashion and his failure to do so caused the pistol to fall from his coat and discharge, according to the complaint.

The woman in this case was interviewed and released.