A pastor with a Modesto church is recovering from a gunshot wound he suffered in a firearms safety class in Modesto.

Tom Smith, a pastor at The House Modesto, was attending a course taught by Phillip Rushing at the Personal Protection Institute on Woodrow Avenue just west of McHenry Avenue when the incident occurred Dec. 5. The institute’s website notes that classes have been canceled until further notice.

During the course, Rushing was using a training gun, a rubber fake with no firing mechanism, said Heather Graves, Modesto Police Department spokeswoman. But as the class was ending, she said, he removed that prop from his holster and replaced it with his real handgun.

About that time, Graves said, a student asked Rushing to demonstrate what to do if attacked by someone armed with a knife. Smith volunteered to portray the attacker in a role-playing exercise.

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