Metro officer accidentally shoots self

[dburkhead]

Would the gun in question have been a Glock, by any chance? As in "pull the trigger" is part of the procedure for stripping it for cleaning?

 

[jmiller676]

Would the gun in question have been a Glock, by any chance? As in "pull the trigger" is part of the procedure for stripping it for cleaning?

Let's not start anything related to Glock/ ANY OTHER PISTOL type of bashing here. Just a good thread of why we need to take extra care no matter how experienced with guns we are.

 

[henktermaat]

And people wonder why we don't tell cops we're carrying during traffic stops.

 

[CulpeperMM]

At 66 yoa, i'd think he was getting close to retirement. this probably makes the decision for him. too bad, this is not the way one would want to end a long career of being a police officer. wow. i bet his pride hurts nearly as bad as his hand. i'm sorry to read this.

i bet he cleaned that thing 1000 times before this.

This is a good reminder to focus on what it is that you are doing, and never get so comfortable that you don't follow the rules.

 

[shooter521]

Would the gun in question have been a Glock, by any chance?

Assuming it was his issued gun, yes.

As in "pull the trigger" is part of the procedure for stripping it for cleaning?

Having to pull the trigger to disassemble the gun isn't an excuse for demonstrating poor gunhandling and not observing the 4 rules.

 

[Paco Bedejo]

Let's not start anything related to Glock/ ANY OTHER PISTOL type of bashing here. Just a good thread of why we need to take extra care no matter how experienced with guns we are.

I know it wasn't an XDm...and my wife wonders why I paid so much for my 1st handgun...

Chambered-round indicator, striker indicator, only time you touch the trigger is to fire...yep, silly toy gun

 

[dburkhead]

Having to pull the trigger to disassemble the gun isn't an excuse for demonstrating poor gunhandling and not observing the 4 rules.

Agreed. It's not. But it's been my experience that people make mistakes. That is the one universal in the human condition. The more mistakes that have to be added together before something really unpleasant happens the less likely a "mistake" becomes a "tragedy." And that's one of the reasons there are four rules--making a mistake on just one is less likely to result in a trip to the emergency room if the others were followed.

And, I'm curious, since you brought up the four rules specifically, how is "pull the trigger to disassemble" not, by itself, a violation of "keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot"?

 

[Dogman]

Check that gun is unloaded, check that gun is unloaded, check that gun is unloaded, before starting to take gun apart......check that gun is unloaded.
Hope his hand will be ok.

 

[colt45er]

Metro officer
accidentally shoots
self

Updated: Monday, 24 Aug 2009, 1:58 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 24 Aug 2009, 1:58 PM EDT
JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. - An Indianapolis police officer accidentally shot himself in the hand Friday night when he was cleaning his gun at his Johnson County home.
Ray T. Foreman, 66, was taken to an Indianapolis hospital after he accidentally shot a bullet through his hand.
Foreman was cleaning the gun he uses as a lieutenant with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at his home off Old U.S. 31, according to a police report.
He was cleaning the gun after it had gotten wet while he was outside. He took the magazine out of the gun, but forgot a bullet was still in the chamber, the report said.
His wife heard a shot and then heard her husband screaming. Foreman was taken to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. Both the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and a detective from the Indianapolis police department were called to investigate.

See thats the problem. I KNOW, FOR A FACT, that my carry gun has a bullet in the chamber, aint no frogetting about it!

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

wonder if workmans comp will pay for this one?

Our workmans comp is called "IOD-Injured on duty" and as the name implies, only covers on-duty injuries. His health insurance plan will be used to cover treatment since it happened at home.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

And people wonder why we don't tell cops we're carrying during traffic stops.

And that has anything to do with a negligent discharge how?

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

Same kinda thing happened to a carpenter I knew .

He was a carpenter for over 40 years without an accident , then one day he made a mistake that cost him the ends of three fingers .

 

[dburkhead]

And that has anything to do with a negligent discharge how?

Since one of the things that has happened in many such cases is the police officer taking apart the gun, since the above was the police officer's own gun, one we can probably presume he was quite familiar with, how much more chance of an "accident" with a gun the police officer is not familiar with?

 

[Agent 007]

.

 

[lawrra]

Would the gun in question have been a Glock, by any chance? As in "pull the trigger" is part of the procedure for stripping it for cleaning?

XDs (not XDms) require the operator to pull the trigger in disassembly as well. Is this the case for the majority of striker fired pistols? I know that several DA/SA pistols require the manual safety to be engaged, de-cocking the hammer, before disassembly is possible.

Check that gun is unloaded, check that gun is unloaded, check that gun is unloaded, before starting to take gun apart......check that gun is unlaoded.
Hope his hand will be ok.

This is why I like firearms that don't allow the take-down lever to be manipulated unless the slide is locked to the rear. Even though I agree that the chamber should be checked several times to ensure the weapon is clear, I like the extra help.

I can't imagine the flak this guy is probably catching from some of his friends

 

[techres]

Sounds just like this one (WARNING NSFW AND GORE PICTURES):

No "it just went off" excuses… an experienced shooter's cautionary tale

Prayers for healing. At 66 that might take a long time.

 

[dburkhead]

So, you've never dry fired a weapon?

And where do you think I point a gun when I dry fire it?

Always in a direction where I wouldn't be too unhappy if a bullet came out of the end of the barrel.

I find it curious that the very people who insist that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" are quick to blame the gun for the negligent actions of a human. Evil Glocks.....they've got a mind of their own, you know. Nancy Pelosi would be proud.

Interesting take on the idea that "people make mistakes and it's better to have to make multiple mistakes before 'mistake' becomes 'tragedy.'"

I do consider having a design where "pull the trigger" is required for anything other than "shoot the gun" to be a flaw. It's not necessarily a critical flaw if one is aware of it and exercises proper care, but a flaw nontheless.

Since I have yet to come across anything that is completely flawless, the "evil Glocks" is hardly appropriate.

And recognition that certain kinds of mistakes are more likely with certain design features (whether one calls them "flaws" or not) is not exactly an anti-gun position either. It doesn't make them any less mistakes, and I've never said otherwise, but more a case of recognizing that this is an issue that requires special attention.

BTW, the reason I asked the question in the first place was more in the manner of trying to envision the situation. Person dropped the magazine, forgot to clear the chamber (mistake), then as part of the disassembly process pulled the trigger (second mistake, not being sure that the gun was pointed in a safe direction throughout), gun "goes off" (doing exactly as it was designed to do--not the gun's fault and I so stipulate). Now contrast that with another type of story. News report is person shoots themselves, or someone else, because the gun "went off while (someone) was cleaning it." Gun in question is a DA revolver. In this latter case the most likely scenario was "cleaning" was a euphemism for "playing with."

There's a certain level of stupidity involved in the first scenario. In the second the "stupidity" is cranked up to a whole new level.

 

[ATF Consumer]

Let's not start anything related to Glock/ ANY OTHER PISTOL type of bashing here. Just a good thread of why we need to take extra care no matter how experienced with guns we are.

I agree, it is the officer's fault, not the handgun...the gun isn't that dumb

 

[Disposable Heart]

Needless to say, I am a bit disappointed with the officer, but not out for his blood or that Glocks are bad. But, I would expect with a tool that the officer carries on a daily basis, he would have been more careful and prudent with the weapon. On the other hand, that arguement could go the other way: He carries it so much that he became complacent with safety and that happens, but its a lesson now that he wont forget.

Hope he and the family does okay. I dont mean harm, but I dont think he would be getting his job back. Negligence is still negligence, I dont like the idea of complacency and negligence getting into his other duties as an officer...

 

[JetGirl]

Yeah that^

Can you imagine the he is going to deal with when he goes back to work!

YouTube moment in the making... ^

since the above was the police officer's own gun, one we can probably presume he was quite familiar with, how much more chance of an "accident" with a gun the police officer is not familiar with?

Excellent point.