Police officer stabs self while dealing with injured deer

GETA, Sweden, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Swedish police said an officer attempting to put an injured deer out of its misery accidentally stabbed himself in the thigh.

Police spokesman Fredrik Kliman said officers responding to a report of a vehicle colliding with a deer near Geta early Tuesday arrived on the scene to find the deer was severely injured and unlikely to survive its wounds, TheLocal.se reported Tuesday.

One of the officers brandished a knife with the intent of ending the animal's suffering, but somehow ended up lodging the knife deep into his own thigh instead.

"He received a serious stab wound," Kliman told the Norrkopings Tidning newspaper. "I don't know exactly what happened, that's something the forthcoming investigation will reveal."

Doctors said the officer was lucky his knife missed the major arteries and he was released a few hours after arriving at the hospital for treatment.

Kliman said the incident was unusual.

"Usually, we call a hunter to track and kill the animal. It's not that common for an officer to deal with the matter himself," he said.