JERSEY CITY -- A 24-year-old Jersey City man faces gun charges after police say he shot himself in the genitals on Wednesday.

Jarius Owen-Izzard, of the 100 block of Wilkinson Avenue, is charged with weapons offense related to a .22 caliber handgun including possession of a weapon by a felon, the criminal complaint says.

Officers responding to a report of shots fired at Ocean and Arlington avenues found Owen-Izzard at Wilkinson and Arlington avenues suffering from a gunshot wound to the groin, the complaint says.

An official said Owen-Izzard told police he was a victim of a shooting, but officers inspected his pants and found no hole where the bullet would have had to enter to strike his genitals.

There were holes in his pants where the bullet entered and exited his leg. Police believe the gun was in Owen-Izzard's waistband when it fired, the complaint says.

Owen-Izzard was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center for treatment and he made his first court appearance on the charges yesterday in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

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