A United Airlines employee was accidentally shot by a passenger checking a gun Monday at Louis Armstrong International Airport in Louisiana, officials say.

The passenger, Edward Deubler, 65, of Harvey was trying to check a hunting rifle before his morning flight airport when the gun discharged, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported. The bullet hit a counter and a shard of the bullet hit a male employee's leg.

The employee was sent to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Deubler was issued a summons for negligent injury by deputies on the scene.

The Transportation Security Administration says guns are allowed on flights in checked luggage, as long as they are verified during the ticket counter check-in process, unloaded and in a hard-sided, locked container.

"We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding this incident," TSA spokesman Jon Allen said.