A little more than an hour ago, emergency services were called to downtown Ferndale after shots were fired in a single-family home in the heart of Cream City. It turned out that a man inside had somehow shot himself through the leg. According to witnesses on the scene, the man appeared to be in his thirties. He was taken to the hospital. Afterward, his dog — a pit bull with a studded collar — could be seen peeking out a window.

There was a bit of a hubbub there for a half-hour or so. As no one was hurt and the shooting appeared to be completely accidental, things then died down. Police entered the building at least once, but left soon after.

Following: A photographic mini-essay on the incident. This is the sort of forensic detail you will never find in Twitter-only news outlets such as @FrndEnterprise.

The scene of the discharge. Right downtown, near the corner of Main Street and Shaw Avenue.

The bullet hole. Standing in the rear of the house, peeking up at the second story, you can see where the bullet exited the building. A guy doing maintenence on the property was standing just a few feet away, and was somewhat shaken by the event. According to him, the room from which the bullet emerged is a bathroom.

The ricochet. The bullet then richoceted off an outbuilding, nearly doing in this old-school PG&E meter. The message on the meter, printed out with masking tape and Sharpie, give evidence that this is home to a typical Humboldt County resident.

Landfall. Here we see the slug lying on the ground near some trash cans, where it came to rest after ricocheting eastward. Police were later seen leaving the house with the weapon, believed to be a .45 automatic.