HURLEY, Va. —  The Norfolk Southern locomotive engineer who suffered a bullet wound in the NS Hurley yard here Sept. 20 reportedly confessed to shooting himself, according to news reports citing the sheriff’s office in Buchanan County, Va.

Hurley is some 100 miles south of Charleston, W.Va.

Engineer Mark Jarrell, 41, of Canada, Ky., suffered a non-life threatening wound to the upper torso around 8:30 p.m., Sept. 20, and was treated at an area hospital.  According to news reports, he initially told sheriff’s deputies he was shot by an unknown assailant as he exited a locomotive, causing sheriff’s deputies, Virginia state police and Norfolk Southern police to search the area most of the night for a gunman. A handgun was found near the scene.

Jarrell now faces a charge of giving false information to a police officer during a criminal investigation. The Buchanan County sheriff was quoted by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph newspaper that Jarell admitted the gunshot wound was self-inflicted and that additional charges could be filed against Jarrell.