Man loses eye after antique revolver accidentally fires during apartment viewing

A Norwegian man lost his right eye after an antique revolver discharged accidentally during a dispute at an apartment viewing in Oslo, Dagbladet reports.

Trond Skjerping, then 26, was waiting in a car outside the apartment when his companion and another man became involved in an argument inside. As Skjerping entered to check on them, a 125-year-old revolver—allegedly fired without anyone pulling the trigger—struck him in the eye.

“I just remember walking into the room. Then it went off,” Skjerping told Dagbladet. Witnesses reported hearing shouting and a woman screaming before the shot. The bullet destroyed his right eye, caused brain and cranial bleeding, and left him with partial facial paralysis.

The shooter, a 29-year-old man, was later convicted of bodily harm and negligent handling of a firearm, receiving a 10-month prison sentence. Court documents state the weapon discharged “without human intervention,” a risk with aging revolvers due to mechanical wear.

Skjerping spent weeks in hospital, where his ruined eye was replaced with a silicone prosthesis. Already visually impaired in his left eye, he was assessed as 25 percent disabled. “I bite my cheek when I eat. The pain is constant,” he said.

Despite praise for his medical care at Oslo’s Ullevål Hospital, Skjerping described feeling abandoned after discharge in June 2024. He lost his wallet, phone, and ID in the incident, complicating access to healthcare and banking. “It was impossible to function,” he said.

His lawyer, Marijana Lozic, confirmed plans for rehabilitation were denied because authorities deemed his brain injury insufficiently severe—a decision both found surprising. Two years later, Skjerping remains in unstable housing, reliant on disability support.

The convicted man and his defense attorney declined to comment.