BUTLER TWP — A 40-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound Sunday morning after his pistol went off accidentally at his Lyndora home, township police said.

Charles Wheeler Jr. was cleaning his 9 mm handgun about 10:30 a.m. when it discharged at the home in the 400 block of Bessemer Avenue. Authorities said it appeared the round grazed the left palm of his hand.

“He was trying to break the gun down to clean it and apparently didn’t realize there was a round still in the chamber,” said police Sgt. Robert Murphy.

Wheeler was alone in his bedroom when the gun went off. At least three other people were in the house.

He was bleeding but alert and talking to police when a Butler Ambulance Service crew got there.

Wheeler was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital. He was treated and later released, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Police said they recovered the casing but they did not find the slug.

The shooting remains under investigation, Murphy said, and no decision was made if any charges would be filed.