By Trevor Kapp and Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — A security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art shot himself in the leg on Friday afternoon while cleaning his service weapon, museum officials said.
The guard, who was not named, accidentally discharged his gun while cleaning it in a basement room that is not accessible to the public, according to Met spokesman Harold Holzer.
The museum's armed guards are not allowed to take their guns home and service them in the basement the world famous Fifth Avenue institution, Met officials explained.
The man, described to be in his 50s, was taken to New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to fire officials, who were called to the Met shortly before 3 p.m.
The guard is expected to be fine, Holzer said.
"It was an accident and accidents happen," said a Met maintenance worker Kathy, who has worked at the museum for 32 years and declined to give her last name. "He definitely didn't want to hurt himself."
She said she knew the victim in passing.
"He's very pleasant, always saying 'hi' to everyone," she said. "He's a hard worker."
