A negligent discharge story from the files of IMPD

[Frank_N_Stein]

And no, it wasn't an IMPD officer that did it. Get a call to a nicer hotel on my district last night. Front desk clerk calls dispatch and says that the resident of one of the rooms comes to the front desk and tells her that he just "accidentally" fired a shot in his room. After telling her he goes back to his room and she calls police.

I am the first to arrive and the clerk tells me the guy was nervous and pacing around while talking to her, and when she told him she was going to call the police he told her it wasn't necessary and goes back to his room.

Two other officers and I go up to the room and make contact with the occupant. He's from out of state, here to do some work for a private individual. His state's LTCH is recognized by Indiana so he brought his XD .40 compact with him.

As soon as we entered the room we could smell the burnt gunpowder. The guy told us that he is familiar with Glocks, but had recently purchased the XD to try it out, and was not completely comfortable with it yet. He said he was trying to unload it and it "just went off", sending the round into the floor and causing an injury to his hand. The way he said he was unloading it made it seem like he was trying to rack every round out of the magazine by working the slide, but I'm not completely sure. He said as the slide was going forward and set the round off without him pulling the trigger. I'm not familiar with the XD line, but upon me handling the gun, I noticed that the takedown lever on the left side was pointed straight up instead of parallel to the slide. Methinks he had the lever up and when he let the slide go it went too far and the firing pin impacted the primer, but thats only theory. The XD experts will have to confirm or deny that for me.

The round went into the floor but didn't go into the room below. No one other than the guy was hurt, and no one else called about the shot. Another officer took the guy's information and made sure his out of state LTCH was valid.

A report was made, but no charges were filed and it is highly unlikely that they will be.

So that is my story of a non-LEO having an ND and not getting arrested. And for Kirk Freeman and Lars, I did not ever point the guy's gun at him while I was handling it. Guess I'm slacking again....

 

[jeremy]

WOW...

That is all I can say to this story Frank...

 

[E5RANGER375]

HERES YOUR SIGN!!!! well nice of you guys to let him stay out of jail. what an idiot.

 

[Joe Williams]

The XD has a firing pin safety, trigger safety, drop safety, just like the Glock, and also has the grip safety. Next thing to impossible for it to go off without the hero pulling the trigger.

Also, like the Glock, the trigger must be pulled to get the slide off. With the firing pin locked, I think it unlikely that round could fire without pulling the trigger, even with the take down lever up.

IOW, I think the genius had the same brainfart that has resulted in more than a few NDs with Glocks, XDs, and similar guns. I think he was trying to take the gun down, didn't clear it properly, flipped the lever up, pulled the trigger to get the slide off, followed shortly thereafter by a loud noise. For whatever reason, he just didn't want to look you in the eye and say "I did a really stupid thing." That's my MHO, anyway.

I'm surprised gunpowder was ALL you smelled when you walked in

Edit: BTW, better luck on the whole gun pointing thing next time. Ya'll have a reputation to uphold!

 

[mk2ja]

The XD has a firing pin safety, trigger safety, drop safety, just like the Glock, and also has the grip safety. Next thing to impossible for it to go off without the hero pulling the trigger.

Also, like the Glock, the trigger must be pulled to get the slide off. With the firing pin locked, I think it unlikely that round could fire without pulling the trigger, even with the take down lever up.

IOW, I think the genius had the same brainfart that has resulted in more than a few NDs with Glocks, XDs, and similar guns. I think he was trying to take the gun down, didn't clear it properly, flipped the lever up, pulled the trigger to get the slide off, followed shortly thereafter by a loud noise. For whatever reason, he just didn't want to look you in the eye and say "I did a really stupid thing." That's my MHO, anyway.

I'm surprised gunpowder was ALL you smelled when you walked in

Edit: BTW, better luck on the whole gun pointing thing next time. Ya'll have a reputation to uphold!

I'm thinking he didn't quite remember the take-down procedure for the XD. It is a slightly different order from the Glock which is specifically intended to prevent ND's while field stripping it. I haven't FS'd an XD in a while, so I can't say the exact process off the top of my head, but I know there is a slightly different step from the Glock's.

 

[Muddy_Ford]

[/quote]

So that is my story of a non-LEO having an ND and not getting arrested. And for Kirk Freeman and Lars, I did not ever point the guy's gun at him while I was handling it. Guess I'm slacking again....[/quote]
Slacker

I have to admit i have never thought about the take down lever being up allowing a round inadvertantly being left in the chamber. I would guess that may be a possibility..........but then again if ya drop the mag first.......?

But i cannot judge him as i have had a ND myself with my first revolver.....(long story). So i know a little of how he was feeling that night.

Short version. No police involved in my case, but a new pair of underwear was needed . It also made me wake up and reassess my handling of firearms.

 

[Joe Williams]

I'm thinking he didn't quite remember the take-down procedure for the XD. It is a slightly different order from the Glock which is specifically intended to prevent ND's while field stripping it. I haven't FS'd an XD in a while, so I can't say the exact process off the top of my head, but I know there is a slightly different step from the Glock's.

You lock the slide to the rear, to flip the takedown lever up, release the slide, hold it in it's normal position, pull the trigger, take the slide the rest of the way off. If you do that with a loaded mag in place.... ruh roh!!!

It's the take down lever up, and the injured hand that makes me think he was fieldstripping it. You have to hold the slide in place while you pull the trigger.

 

[shooter521]

I agree, Joe; it sounds to me like he was trying to field-strip the gun with a round in the chamber.

My

 

[srad]

I'm thinking he didn't quite remember the take-down procedure for the XD. It is a slightly different order from the Glock which is specifically intended to prevent ND's while field stripping it. I haven't FS'd an XD in a while, so I can't say the exact process off the top of my head, but I know there is a slightly different step from the Glock's.

Step One: CHECK, RE-CHECK, AND TRIPLE CHECK THAT THE GUN IS UNLOADED... being an XD & not a Glock owner, don't know if that's the different step

Takedown lever up + hand injury= he was FS'ing the pistol when it "just went off".

Amazing that no one else heard the ND... nice to know there's a hotel out there with sound proof walls; a guaranteed good night's sleep

 

[Fenway]

thanks for the report Stein!

 

[E5RANGER375]

Amazing that no one else heard the ND... nice to know there's a hotel out there with sound proof walls; a guaranteed good night's sleep

or maybe they hear so many its just another night, lol

 

[Kirk Freeman]

And for Kirk Freeman and Lars, I did not ever point the guy's gun at him while I was handling it.

It's all fun and games until the officer cannot figure how to operate a 1911 and points one of your guns at your legs.

Eez gon, eez not safe.

Everytime you load and unload the weapon can discharge. Leave the weapon in the holster and don't jack with it. Four rules light is always on.

Yes, that's right, I'm going to post the Gunsite photo again.



Glad you did not have to clean up any blood (in any room), Frank. What is it about people doing dumb stuff with guns in hotels? It's like they think the Four Rules does not apply inside a hotel.

 

[Mokkie]

Its just MHO but a hotel room is not the place to be checking out a new loaded weapon. I'm glad the only thing that got hurt was a hole in the floor and the gun owners pride. Hopefully the guy has learned something from this and it dont happen again.

 

[Roadie]

It's all fun and games until the officer cannot figure how to operate a 1911 and points one of your guns at your legs.

Eez gon, eez not safe.

Everytime you load and unload the weapon can discharge. Leave the weapon in the holster and don't jack with it. Four rules light is always on.

Yes, that's right, I'm going to post the Gunsite photo again.



Glad you did not have to clean up any blood (in any room), Frank. What is it about people doing dumb stuff with guns in hotels? It's like they think the Four Rules does not apply inside a hotel.

"Four rules light is always on."

I have been only carrying about a year, and I remind myself of this every day.

I wish I could find a news story I read about some handgun issue in another state. They quoted a Sheriff as talking about gun safety and he said something to the effect of:

"Handle a gun like it's loaded until you know for sure it's not"

I responded in the comments: "No, Sheriff, WRONG, act like the gun is ALWAYS loaded, period."

I credit INGO for helping me to learn more in the last year than I could have in 10 years without you folks. So

 

[MoparMan]

He's from out of state, here to do some work for a private individual.

I hope he's not the securtiy for this private individual.


but had recently purchased the XD to try it out, and was not completely comfortable with it yet.

Must not been a Holiday Inn Express or he would have known.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

If you are unfamiliar with a certain gun, for Gods sake don't carry it. Before you ever load, and attempt to carry. Field strip it, so you know the procedure and you look for any visible damage etc. Morons like that give the rest of us a bad name. Also the tard, obviousaly did not have the mag removed, and pulled the trigger.

 

[SSGSAD]

I agree with JOE, at least 3 safeties, ..... unbelieveable !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice job !!!!!

 

[HandK]

And the good news is they can fix the hole in the carpet, but they can't seem to get the smell out of the room, quests complain that it smells like someone craped there pants in there!!

 

[Lars]

So that is my story of a non-LEO having an ND and not getting arrested. And for Kirk Freeman and Lars, I did not ever point the guy's gun at him while I was handling it. Guess I'm slacking again....

PM Sent.

 

[truegrit]

multiple safties was the biggest reason I bought the XD for carry the first thing this guy should have done was learned how to field strip and clean it before ever loading it! Then he should have taken it to the range for practice before carry!