just got this. What's with LEO's and accidents?
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2...rs-ar-1451258/
County officer shoots self at firearms training course
By: Daily Progress Staff Reports
Published: November 10, 2011
An Albemarle County police officer was transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries after accidentally shooting himself in the hand at an annual firearms training course Thursday afternoon at the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club.
The officer was preparing to clean his handgun when he unintentionally fired a bullet into his left hand around 4 p.m.
“The important message for everyone is that firearms should be handled with extreme care all the time,” Sgt. Darrell Byers said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This happened at the club I was just elected into the Board of Directors into and we just received the first report from the Police Department about it. Here are the facts as they were presented:
- The Officer pulled the trigger in preparation to field stripping his issued handgun (Glock 22).
- The round entered his left hand through the fleshy part of his thumb joint (basically the palm) and traversed semi-diagonally and exited out the side of his palm below the small pinky. No bone was hit and he is back on light duty and may be back on street patrol in a week or two.
- After exiting the officer's hand, the bullet traversed through a closet and exited an interior wall putting a dent in a steel cabinet that sat on an adjacent room. Noboyd else was injured in the incident.
- The department had just transitioned to Glock 22s from HK USPs which they carried for about 11-years.
- The ammunition was .40 S&W FMJ (training and practice ammo - not sure what make but I believe they are using Federal HRT for duty).
- The Officers had just conducted training at an outdoor range that is on another part of club property. The Officers had to get into their vehicles to drive to the clubhouse where they normally clean their weapons.
- The handgun was supposed to have been cleared prior to leaving the shooting line at the outdoor range. The ongoing investigation should determine if this was accomplished or not.
- Their training is taken directly from the Glock Training.
- The clearing process they were trained in were as follows (while adhering to the rules of gun safety):
1) Remove magazine from the weapon.
2) Rack the slide at least three times - counting each rack loudly.
3) Lock the slide open.
4) Visually and digitally clear the chamber.
5) Release the slide.
6) (While pointing in a safe direction) pull the trigger.
- The Officers were also trained to follow the facility policy which specifically disallows the handling of a loaded firearm where the ND occurred. NOTE: It is still unknown at which point the round ended up in the chamber of the pistol and why. This should be determined by the ongoing investigation.
- The department already adheres tot he strict process of unloading their weapons at an Indoor Range (attached to the clubhouse) under the observation of an FI prior to starting training. They also load in the same range prior to leaving for the club.
What may have happened:
- The FIs failed to properly clear the weapon involved off the line OR the Officer loaded his handgun when he entered his cruiser out of habit and forgot that he did so. No other viable scenarios are available.
- The Officer was probably distracted while he was field stripping his weapon for cleaning and he forgot to take the proper steps to clear it.
What the Department is implementing or is considering the follow to prevent future occurrence.
- They are implementing the use of a barrel flag while at the range.
- They are looking at changing their weapons clearing procedure to include a second FI off the firing line (as conducted in most military ranges).
I'm glad the Officer is fine and nobody got hurt. But this is one case where stupid does hurt. To the credit of the department, they have been very proactive in addressing the issue from the get go.
In the "What may have happened:" they should add, "The officer did not clear his weapon"
Instead of racking it 3 times they should rack it once and look, what are the other 2 times supposed to do??
All kidding aside, I would think this was a complacency or distraction/tired issue. At the end of the day some people can be exhausted, and that's when things go bad.
I had a woman student once. She had been clearing her pistol all day long when I told her "unload and show clear". Late afternoon I gave the same command, what did she do? yank on the trigger!! Freak me out to say the least. I was pissed. She took a break after that. It's really inclredible how quickly things can happen.
R.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by rickp
Bookmarks