Sheriff's detective put on leave after accidentally shooting his mother in church at wedding

A Sheriff's detective in McCracken County, Kentucky, has been put on paid leave after a shooting incident. The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says Detective Cory Golightly was involved in a shooting at a wedding at Bardwell Baptist Church in Carlisle County over the weekend.



Sheriff Jon Hayden says the gun and holster were not those that his department issues. Jeanine King was playing the piano for the service and says she was just leaving the sanctuary when she heard the shot. She said it was so loud it didn't register what it was. "My initial reaction was, 'Oh my goodness. Could that possibly be a gun?'" King said.

"Then my next thought was, 'Gosh, who's in the church with a gun?'" She said once she heard Golightly call for his mother, she knew something was really wrong. When she got to where it happened in the foyer she said things were not chaotic. "He was so calm," she said. "He said, 'Mom, breathe and be calm. Be calm.'" Mike Collins is custodian for the church, and he heard the call come in.



He rushed over to see what happened. He said all the witnesses said the same thing. "He (Golightly) was adjusting his jacket. The gun and holster fell out of his jacket and accidentally went off and shot her," Collins said. The Carlisle County Sheriff's Department is investigating. A hospital representative from Vanderbilt University Medical Center says Golightly's mother is in a stable condition.

With news video.