A former Cumberland County correctional officer made his first appearance Monday at the Capital Judicial Center on a felony charge in connection with an accidental shooting, according to a prosecutor.
Matthew Benger, 24, of Portland is charged with reckless conduct with a firearm, a Class C crime, Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Tuesday in an email.
He was not asked to enter a plea because he has not yet been indicted by the Kennebec County grand jury. It next convenes on Aug. 24 and 25.
Benger no longer works for Cumberland County, according to its human resource department.
Efforts to reach his attorney, Roger Brunelle of Portland, were unsuccessful Tuesday.
The incident happened inside a pickup truck at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro on June 12. State police said Benger was sitting in the passenger seat handling a privately owned 9 mm when it went off and hit the driver, Matthew Morrison, 33, of Mars Hill, in the leg.
Morrison, who works as a corrections officer at the Aroostook County Jail, and Benger were attending training at the academy when the shooting happened.
Benger is next due in court on Sept. 14, according to Maloney.
If convicted, Benger faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.