DEA Agent Shoots Self During Gun Safety Class

[Queasy]

Linky

DEA Agent Shoots Self During Gun Safety Class

POSTED: 11:27 am EDT April 30, 2004

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A federal drug agent shot himself in the leg during a gun safety presentation to children and his bosses are investigating.

The Drug Enforcement Administration agent, whose name was not released, was giving a gun safety presentation to about 50 adults and students organized by the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, witnesses and police said.

He drew his .40-caliber duty weapon and removed the magazine, according to the police report. Then he pulled back the slide and asked someone in the audience to look inside the gun and confirm it wasn't loaded, the report said.

Witnesses said the gun was pointed at the floor and when he released the slide, one shot fired into the top of his left thigh.

"The kids screamed and started to cry," said Vivian Farmer, who attended the presentation with her 13-year-old nephew.

"Everyone was pretty shaken up," Farmer said. "But the point of gun safety hit home. Unfortunately, the agent had to get shot. But after seeing that, my nephew doesn't want to have anything to do with guns."

The agent was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center after the April 9 shooting and returned to work, DEA special agent Joe Kilmer said.

Police ruled the shooting was an accident, but the DEA headquarters in Washington was still investigating, Kilmer said.



Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

[z0mb13]

OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

 

[Tal]

DEA should lose it's funding if they can't handle guns better than that.

 

[fs5]

DUDE, what a way to SCAR a kid for life... now they'll never get a gun GOOD JOB!

 

[Viper GTS]

If the witness accounts are accurate, it shouldn't have gone off.

Then again he shouldn't have had it pointed at his leg.



Viper GTS

 

[Shockwave]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

Sad. Sounds like gun failure. He pulled the slide back which should have ejected the shell. Unless he only pulled the slide like 1/4 of the way back......

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: z0mb13
OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

Sad. Sounds like gun failure. He pulled the slide back which should have ejected the shell. Unless he only pulled the slide like 1/4 of the way back......

Even then it should not have fired.

Viper GTS

 

[cipher00]

Firearm safety demonstrations should be left to experts.

 

[captains]

hahahahahaha

 

[K1052]

I have heard some real horror stoires about law enforcement officers and how some handle their firearms. Lets just say that human error is almost always the cause for these accidents.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: z0mb13
OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

Sad. Sounds like gun failure. He pulled the slide back which should have ejected the shell. Unless he only pulled the slide like 1/4 of the way back......

Even then it should not have fired.

Viper GTS

I guess the guy keeps his gun with round chambered. He made the mistake of not seeing the round and the gun went off when he let the slide fall back (which also let the half-cocked hammer fall back and boom).

I'm not an expert on handguns, but doesnt the gun have to be out of the safe mode for the firing pin to be exposed and sticing out of the bolt and therefore able to fire)?

 

[RagingBITCH]

He pwn3d himself.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: halik
I guess the guy keeps his gun with round chambered. He made the mistake of not seeing the round and the gun went off when he let the slide fall back (which also let the half-cocked hammer fall back and boom).

Sounds like he may want to take the Barney Fife approach from now on and keep his rounds in his shirt pocket.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

"Everyone was pretty shaken up," Farmer said. "But the point of gun safety hit home. Unfortunately, the agent had to get shot. But after seeing that, my nephew doesn't want to have anything to do with guns."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :beer:

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: z0mb13
OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

Sad. Sounds like gun failure. He pulled the slide back which should have ejected the shell. Unless he only pulled the slide like 1/4 of the way back......

Even then it should not have fired.

Viper GTS

I guess the guy keeps his gun with round chambered. He made the mistake of not seeing the round and the gun went off when he let the slide fall back (which also let the half-cocked hammer fall back and boom).

I'm not an expert on handguns, but doesnt the gun have to be out of the safe mode for the firing pin to be exposed and sticing out of the bolt and therefore able to fire)?

Keeping a round in the chamber is the only way to carry (either DAO or cocked/locked ala 1911), I think the whole point of having someone check was to demonstrate that even when the magazine is out a gun can still be loaded/fired.

Typical DAO semi-autos (Glock clones basically) do not have a safety in the traditional sense. Glocks have three safeties, all of which are always engaged.

Releasing the slide should not have resulted in discharge, this is the standard method of chambering a round in a semi-auto.

Viper GTS

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: halik...safe mode...

Only an AT member would refer to a gun as being in "safe mode".

 

[K1052]

That agent taught those kids a very important lesson: ALWAYS respect the firearm and NEVER point it at anything you don't want an extra hole in.

 

[tnitsuj]

He more than likely had a Sig P228, although DEA does issue other duty weapons. He missed a round in the chamber, and must have had his finger on the trigger to discharge the gun like that unless there was something spectacularly and oddly wrong with the weapon.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
He more than likely had a Sig P228, although DEA does issue other duty weapons. He missed a round in the chamber, and must have had his finger on the trigger to discharge the gun like that unless there was something spectacularly and oddly wrong with the weapon.

That's the only thing I can figure, either he had his finger on the trigger (unlikely, anybody with any decent level of training is broken of that habit early on) or mechanical failure.

I would put money on his knowing full well there was a round in the chamber.

[EDIT]Also, the article specified .40, isn't the P228 9mm only?[/EDIT]

Viper GTS

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: z0mb13
OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

Sad. Sounds like gun failure. He pulled the slide back which should have ejected the shell. Unless he only pulled the slide like 1/4 of the way back......

Even then it should not have fired.

Viper GTS

I guess the guy keeps his gun with round chambered. He made the mistake of not seeing the round and the gun went off when he let the slide fall back (which also let the half-cocked hammer fall back and boom).

I'm not an expert on handguns, but doesnt the gun have to be out of the safe mode for the firing pin to be exposed and sticing out of the bolt and therefore able to fire)?

Keeping a round in the chamber is the only way to carry (either DAO or cocked/locked ala 1911), I think the whole point of having someone check was to demonstrate that even when the magazine is out a gun can still be loaded/fired.

Typical DAO semi-autos (Glock clones basically) do not have a safety in the traditional sense. Glocks have three safeties, all of which are always engaged.

Releasing the slide should not have resulted in discharge, this is the standard method of chambering a round in a semi-auto.

Viper GTS

I get the feeling that we don't really know the whole story here. It is easier to blame the weapon than the operator.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
He more than likely had a Sig P228, although DEA does issue other duty weapons. He missed a round in the chamber, and must have had his finger on the trigger to discharge the gun like that unless there was something spectacularly and oddly wrong with the weapon.

That's the only thing I can figure, either he had his finger on the trigger (unlikely, anybody with any decent level of training is broken of that habit early on) or mechanical failure.

I would put money on his knowing full well there was a round in the chamber.

Viper GTS

The more you handle and work with guns the sloppier and more complacent you get unless you make a concious effort to maintain good practices. It's true of a lot of things. It's that one time when you get sloppy with something you have done hundreds of times that puts your eye out or worse.

 

[Kelemvor]

At least it wasn't pointed at oen of the kids...

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Shockwave

Originally posted by: z0mb13
OMG I dont know if I have to feel sad or laugh at the poor guy!

Sad. Sounds like gun failure. He pulled the slide back which should have ejected the shell. Unless he only pulled the slide like 1/4 of the way back......

Even then it should not have fired.

Viper GTS

I guess the guy keeps his gun with round chambered. He made the mistake of not seeing the round and the gun went off when he let the slide fall back (which also let the half-cocked hammer fall back and boom).

I'm not an expert on handguns, but doesnt the gun have to be out of the safe mode for the firing pin to be exposed and sticing out of the bolt and therefore able to fire)?

Keeping a round in the chamber is the only way to carry (either DAO or cocked/locked ala 1911), I think the whole point of having someone check was to demonstrate that even when the magazine is out a gun can still be loaded/fired.

Typical DAO semi-autos (Glock clones basically) do not have a safety in the traditional sense. Glocks have three safeties, all of which are always engaged.

Releasing the slide should not have resulted in discharge, this is the standard method of chambering a round in a semi-auto.

Viper GTS

If he had a glock, the magazine eject safety would've prevented the gun from firing.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: tnitsuj
He more than likely had a Sig P228, although DEA does issue other duty weapons. He missed a round in the chamber, and must have had his finger on the trigger to discharge the gun like that unless there was something spectacularly and oddly wrong with the weapon.

That's the only thing I can figure, either he had his finger on the trigger (unlikely, anybody with any decent level of training is broken of that habit early on) or mechanical failure.

I would put money on his knowing full well there was a round in the chamber.

[EDIT]Also, the article specified .40, isn't the P228 9mm only?[/EDIT]

Viper GTS

I know the FBI issues Glock 22/23 (.40) now, maybe he was carrying that? (Sig 228 is 9mm only afaik)

EDIT: Sig 229 is .40 cal - maybe he was carrying that?

 

[ohtwell]

That really sucks!


: ) Amanda