Employee Shot at Stivers Ford in Fayetteville in Accidental Firearm Discharge

An employee at Stivers Ford in Fayetteville was shot in the leg Friday morning in what police say appears to have been an accidental shooting caused by negligent handling of a firearm.

Fayetteville Police officers responded around 7:48 a.m. to 275 North Glynn Street, the location of Stivers Ford, after receiving a report of a person shot.

The injured employee was taken by EMS to a hospital for treatment. Fayetteville Public Safety later reported that the victim was in stable condition with a non-life-threatening injury.

According to investigators, the shooting appears to have been accidental and stemmed from negligent handling of a firearm. Police said an arrest had been made and charges were pending.

Police also said there was no danger to the public stemming from the incident, although the investigation remained active.

Eddie Stivers, president of Stivers Ford South, told The Citizen that the incident involved two service employees.

“It was an accidental discharge of a personal firearm that was not supposed to be at the dealership,” Stivers said. “So one employee brought a personal firearm into the dealership in violation of company policy before work hours, and two employees were horsing around, and the firearm went off, and one of the employees was hit in the leg.”

Stivers said he believed the injured employee was not the person who brought the firearm to the dealership, but emphasized that he did not yet have complete details.

The dealership had not taken disciplinary action against the employee who brought the firearm at the time Stivers spoke with The Citizen, he said, because police had detained the employee.

Stivers was out of town at Ford’s national dealer meetings when he learned about the shooting. He and the Fayetteville dealership’s general manager and operating partner changed their flights and headed back following the incident.

“I think it’s important that we allow the authorities to conduct their investigation and reach the appropriate conclusion,” Stivers said. “That’s what they do.”