Security Guard At Metropolitan Museum Of Art Accidentally Shoots Self In Leg

A Metropolitan Museum of Art security guard accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday afternoon, DNAinfo reports.

Officials say the guard was cleaning the weapon in the basement locker room of the museum, away from visitors, when it discharged.

The guard, in his 50s, is expected "to be fine," according to museum spokesman Harold Holzer. He is being treated at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

A limited group of guards at the popular museum-- which hosts 5 million visitors a year-- carry guns while on duty but aren't allowed to take the weapons off the premises, Holzer said according to The New York Times.

Holzer, however, wouldn't reveal where the guards are positioned in the sprawling 1.6 million square feet of space.

"They’re routed every day in a different place and we don’t really disclose how they’re assigned,” he said.

Met maintenance worker Kathy, who has worked at the museum for 32 years, downplayed the incident.

"It was an accident and accidents happen," she told DNAinfo. "He definitely didn't want to hurt himself."

No word yet if the guard in question was also an aspiring artist.