An inmate is suing the New Mexico Corrections Department, claiming that he was shot in the foot by officers who participated in target practice near the cells.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Robert Vasquez filed the lawsuit Wednesday. He alleges that prison officers at Western New Mexico Correctional Facility fired their guns, which had been loaded with bean-bag pellets, at several cells during training exercises in July 2013.
Spokeswoman for the department, Alex Tomlin, says prison officials held a "nonlethal training exercise" and that inmates had the option to leave the area. She claims Vasquez told authorities that something happened to his foot but not that he had been shot.
Vasquez is seeking damages for pain and suffering.
He was transferred to a different prison in 2013.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican.
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