By Chris Bolin,Gqlshare

Copyright denverpost

The two Weld County Sheriff’s Office employees injured after one discharged their firearm Tuesday afternoon at a training center near Carr were non-certified deputies, officials said.

While securing their gear toward the end of a firearms training Tuesday at the Sam Brownlee Training Center, a non-certified deputy discharged their firearm, injuring themselves and one other deputy.

Non-certified deputies can carry a firearm, but only while performing duties assigned by the sheriff while working on-duty, according to Weld County Sheriff’s Office policy. The policy further clarifies that even when working on-duty, the duties must specifically require the carrying of a firearm.

Non-certified deputies are not Peace Officer Standards and Training certified, but are still considered peace officers under Colorado law.

While Public Resource Officer Melissa Chesmore did not specify that the two injured deputies were assigned to the Weld County Jail, she included information about an internal firearms training program offered to deputies assigned to the Detentions Division in an email responding to questions about the incident. The firearms course authorizes deputies to perform hospital transports, work release regressions and transfers to the court unit, Chesmore said.

Once authorized to carry a firearm, the non-certified deputies must successfully complete quarterly trainings and qualifications.

Chesmore would not say how the firearm discharge happened, nor would she specify the nature of the deputies’ injuries other than that they were not life-threatening. She also would not confirm whether anybody involved has been placed on leave or is facing disciplinary actions because of the discharge, citing the active investigation. The investigation is expected to take at least two weeks to complete, she said.

One of the deputies injured had been with the sheriff’s office for 10 years. The other had been with the agency for 15 years, Chesmore said.