Ocala police officer dies after accidental shooting during training

[Reptile]

OCALA, Fla. (WOGX FOX 51) - Ocala police say one of their officers has died after being shot during firearms training on Monday.

Officer Jared Forsyth, 33, was rushed to a Ocala Regional Medical Center in critical condition and immediately taken into surgery, but he later died from his injuries. According to a police spokesperson, the accidental shooting happened just before 3:30 p.m. at a gun range at the Lowell Correctional Institution, at 3700 NW 111th Place in Ocala.

Because the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident, few details of the shooting are being released at present time, and another officer who was involved is not being named.

"Words cant express the sorrow that I feel for losing an officer under my watch. I just pray I don't lose two. If you pray, please pray for my officer, pray for the one who didn't survive, and pray for the one that hopefully will survive this," said Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham.

Officer Forsyth joined the force in April of 2012. He leaves behind a mother and a stepfather.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/2...cal-after-being-shot-during-firearms-training

Terrible accident. I wonder how it happened.

 

[the_shootist]

Damn shame....condolences to the family

 

[Glockster30]

Apparently happened after live range shooting when the officers were cleaning their firearms:

Graham tells the Ocala Star Banner (http://bit.ly/1a0UqGj ) that the shooting happened in an area where weapons are cleaned after the officers had completed live firing.
Graham says the second officer's weapon fired and a bullet struck Forsyth in the arm before traveling into his chest. He says Forsyth was wearing a bulletproof vest but its sides were not protected.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...4IDoBw&usg=AFQjCNE2iH6ZOumHy1m3jaKW2VQlhnRImg

 

[M1911]

Graham says the second officer's weapon fired and a bullet struck Forsyth in the arm before traveling into his chest

He means that the second officer fired his gun. He pulled the damn trigger of a loaded gun while it was pointed at a fellow officer. Moron should be charged with manslaughter.

 

[Reptile]

He means that the second officer fired his gun. He pulled the damn trigger of a loaded gun while it was pointed at a fellow officer. Moron should be charged with manslaughter.

What was the shooter thinking?

 

[Glockster30]

What was the shooter thinking?

That's the problem; he wasn't thinking.

 

[Admin]

Damn shame....condolences to the family

+1

Damn.

 

[bigblue]

I'm just going to say three things:

1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
This is the primary rule of gun safety. Never pointing a gun at yourself or others ensures that it will not cause harm if it goes off. When outdoors, point the gun toward the ground or towards the target. If you are indoors, be mindful that a bullet can penetrate ceilings, floors, walls, windows, and doors. Use common sense to dictate the safest direction.


2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
When holding a gun, rest your finger on the trigger guard or along the side of the gun. Do not touch the trigger until you are ready to fire.


3. ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
When you pick up a gun, immediately engage the safety device and remove the magazine before opening the action and checking the chamber(s). If you do not know how to open the action or inspect the chamber(s), leave the gun alone and get help from someone who does.




For someone to get shot and killed, you have to break all three of those rules. It sounds like one of this guys did just that and it really sucks because stupid crap like this is entirely preventable.

Why the fk is your finger anywhere near the trigger when clearing your weapon and why the fk are you pointing a loaded weapon at another officer???

 

[weekendracer]

I clean my gun at home after qualifying. There is no gun on the market for general LE use that can't handle being 'dirty' for an hour or two. A bunch of guys I don't necessarily know well diddling guns in a small area is not for me.

 

[CCW]

I'm just going to say three things:

1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
This is the primary rule of gun safety. Never pointing a gun at yourself or others ensures that it will not cause harm if it goes off. When outdoors, point the gun toward the ground or towards the target. If you are indoors, be mindful that a bullet can penetrate ceilings, floors, walls, windows, and doors. Use common sense to dictate the safest direction.


2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
When holding a gun, rest your finger on the trigger guard or along the side of the gun. Do not touch the trigger until you are ready to fire.


3. ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.
When you pick up a gun, immediately engage the safety device and remove the magazine before opening the action and checking the chamber(s). If you do not know how to open the action or inspect the chamber(s), leave the gun alone and get help from someone who does.




For someone to get shot and killed, you have to break all three of those rules. It sounds like one of this guys did just that and it really sucks because stupid crap like this is entirely preventable.

Why the fk is your finger anywhere near the trigger when clearing your weapon and why the fk are you pointing a loaded weapon at another officer???

Can you show me where the safety is on my G19?

 

[M1911]

What was the shooter thinking?

That's the problem; he wasn't thinking.

This, he wasn't thinking.

Here is my guess, without any evidence to back it up. The shooter had a Glock. While clearing it, either he 1) cycled the slide first prior to removing the magazine (thus charging the chamber again), or 2) dropped the magazine but never cycled the slide. Before you can remove the slide on a Glock, you have to pull the trigger. So one way or another, the officer left around in the chamber and pulled the trigger to drop the striker. While pulling the trigger, he had it pointed at the other officer instead of in a safe direction.

Whatever happened, it is a damn shame.

 

[bigblue]

Can you show me where the safety is on my G19?

Find a mirror and look in it, there is your safety and all the safety you should ever need. If you are unable to unload the firearm without pointing it at another human with your finger on the trigger, leave the firearm alone and get help from someone who does.

This, he wasn't thinking.

Here is my guess, without any evidence to back it up. The shooter had a Glock. While clearing it, either he 1) cycled the slide first prior to removing the magazine (thus charging the chamber again), or 2) dropped the magazine but never cycled the slide. Before you can remove the slide on a Glock, you have to pull the trigger. So one way or another, the officer left around in the chamber and pulled the trigger to drop the striker. While pulling the trigger, he had it pointed at the other officer instead of in a safe direction.

Whatever happened, it is a damn shame.

This sounds plausible. If you fail to remove the magazine and chamber a round before attempting to remove the slide a Glock WILL fire that round when releasing the slide with the trigger. That is yet another reason not to point a firearm at a human even though you THINK its unloaded.

 

[drgrant]

I still remember this poor woman.... shot by some pompous ass trainer at the school she was at.... I think the trainer had some kind of history of safety issues, too...

http://www.odmp.org/officer/17868-police-officer-tara-marie-drummond

 

[bigblue]

I still remember this poor woman.... shot by some pompous ass trainer at the school she was at.... I think the trainer had some kind of history of safety issues, too...

http://www.odmp.org/officer/17868-police-officer-tara-marie-drummond

That site lists Ocala as a "line of duty death". WUT? FF while training is "line of duty"?

 

[xtry51]

That site lists Ocala as a "line of duty death". WUT? FF while training is "line of duty"?

Yes, so the Brady and Moms bunch can use it in their statistics.

 

[Salyeica]

Tragic incident...condolences to the family and colleagues.

I've seen a lot of these "accidental discharge while cleaning" stories in the past couple years, unfortunately. Why would anyone clean a firearm without ensuring that it was unloaded, LE or Citizen? Is it ignorance or arrogance?

 

[allen-1]

Tragic incident...condolences to the family and colleagues.

I've seen a lot of these "accidental discharge while cleaning" stories in the past couple years, unfortunately. Why would anyone clean a firearm without ensuring that it was unloaded, LE or Citizen? Is it ignorance or arrogance?

For people who don't handle firearms a lot, it's generally ignorance.
For people who do handle firearms a lot, it's generally not so much arrogance as complacency. It only takes a moment of carelessness.

I've had a negligent discharge with my Glock. Not accidental, negligent. I was going to strip the slide to show another shooter the barrel. So, I cleared the chamber by racking the slide, pointed the muzzle in a safe direction and pulled the trigger so that I could take the slide off. What the hell? The gun was empty, right? Wrong. It would have been empty if I'd dropped the magazine like I was supposed to. The only thing that kept this from being a very serious mistake was that I'd made ONE mistake, not TWO mistakes. Even though I "knew" the gun was empty when I pulled the trigger, I still pointed it at a berm. So when it went BANG instead of click, it merely startled the hell out of both of us, nobody was injured.

You can get away with breaking one of the safety rules most of the time, (not that I'm advising it). Break two or more and somebody's going to get hurt, or dead.

In my case, it was carelessness, complacency, not doing things by the numbers that resulted in a negligent discharge -- it hasn't happened since and I'm determined not to have it happen again.

 

[bigblue]

Tragic incident...condolences to the family and colleagues.

I've seen a lot of these "accidental discharge while cleaning" stories in the past couple years, unfortunately. Why would anyone clean a firearm without ensuring that it was unloaded, LE or Citizen? Is it ignorance or arrogance?

Usually arrogance through familiarity, the same reason muzzle control is a problem at gun shops.

 

[M1911]

This sounds plausible. If you fail to remove the magazine and chamber a round before attempting to remove the slide a Glock WILL fire that round when releasing the slide with the trigger. That is yet another reason not to point a firearm at a human even though you THINK its unloaded.

As an IDPA SO, I have been a safety officer on low-light stages. I learned the hard way that people are more likely to screw up on a low light stage. They aren't used to handling the flashlight and it interrupts their normal sequence of actions. As a result, bad things can happen.

About two years ago at a match, it was late in the day and I was tired. The shooter finished the course of fire and I gave him the unload and show clear command. He stowed his flashlight, thinking he'd stowed his magazine. He cycled the slide, but since the mag was still in place, instead of emptying the chamber, he recharged the chamber. So when he pulled the trigger to lower the hammer, he pulled the trigger on a live chamber instead of an empty chamber. So it was a boom instead of a click. I was tired and saw what I expected to see, not what was there, and as a result I didn't stop him until it was too late. The gun was pointed at the backstop, so the only damage was to his ego (he was disqualified per the rules).

Fast forward to last year's New England Regional IDPA match. I was a safety officer for one of the low light stages. After the experience above, I was eager to prevent a reoccurrence. On the first day of the match, during unload-and-show-clear, I stopped 4 shooters from cycling the slide prior to dropping the magazine. Probably some of those shooters would have caught the problem before pulling the trigger, but I didn't let them get that far. It was another wake up a call.

I thought the second day was going better as no shooter tried to cycle the slide without removing the magazine first during unload-and-show-clear. Unfortunately, near the end of the day one of the shooters passed his support hand wrist right in front of the muzzle during unload-and-show-clear. He was juggling his flashlight and the magazine in one hand, so he screwed up and earned a trip to the Dairy Queen.

 

[M1911]

Tragic incident...condolences to the family and colleagues.

I've seen a lot of these "accidental discharge while cleaning" stories in the past couple years, unfortunately. Why would anyone clean a firearm without ensuring that it was unloaded, LE or Citizen? Is it ignorance or arrogance?

Ignorance and/or fatigue and/or general stupidity.

A friend of mine was with the 101st during the invasion of Iraq. One of his squad mates started to clean his M4 without clearing it. The moron had a negligent discharge while doing so, which hit another squad member.

The Army had to rotate the moron home as he was unable to perform his duties. The remainder of his squad had gotten a little enthusiastic during their percussive retraining session and the moron was having trouble walking.

 

[xtry51]

As an IDPA SO, I have been a safety officer on low-light stages. I learned the hard way that people are more likely to screw up on a low light stage. They aren't used to handling the flashlight and it interrupts their normal sequence of actions. As a result, bad things can happen.

About two years ago at a match, it was late in the day and I was tired. The shooter finished the course of fire and I gave him the unload and show clear command. He stowed his flashlight, thinking he'd stowed his magazine. He cycled the slide, but since the mag was still in place, instead of emptying the chamber, he recharged the chamber. So when he pulled the trigger to lower the hammer, he pulled the trigger on a live chamber instead of an empty chamber. So it was a boom instead of a click. I was tired and saw what I expected to see, not what was there, and as a result I didn't stop him until it was too late. The gun was pointed at the backstop, so the only damage was to his ego (he was disqualified per the rules).

Fast forward to last year's New England Regional IDPA match. I was a safety officer for one of the low light stages. After the experience above, I was eager to prevent a reoccurrence. On the first day of the match, during unload-and-show-clear, I stopped 4 shooters from cycling the slide prior to dropping the magazine. Probably some of those shooters would have caught the problem before pulling the trigger, but I didn't let them get that far. It was another wake up a call.

I thought the second day was going better as no shooter tried to cycle the slide without removing the magazine first during unload-and-show-clear. Unfortunately, near the end of the day one of the shooters passed his support hand wrist right in front of the muzzle during unload-and-show-clear. He was juggling his flashlight and the magazine in one hand, so he screwed up and earned a trip to the Dairy Queen.

Even when I drop a mag I rack the slide 3 times in rapid succession. This helps prevent your first story. If your habit is to rack more than once, you'll cycle a loaded round out when a loaded mag is inserted. Rounds flying out of your gun as you rack it is a good reminder you need to square your shit away mentally and get back on point. This can be a good stop gap when you are fatigued.

 

[beerjeep]

Find a mirror and look in it, there is your safety and all the safety you should ever need. If you are unable to unload the firearm without pointing it at another human with your finger on the trigger, leave the firearm alone and get help from someone who does...

Agree. You are the first safety and the trigger is the second.

 

[mattyw]

as always in this awful stories, a number of safety rules were ignored/forgotten/never learned, etc

 

[Bonesinium]

That moron cost someone their life. Guns are not toys, so why does he/she think they can treat them like one? This is the epitome of being careless, reckless, and thoughtless. There is no excuse. It is one thing (still ungodly stupid) to be an idiot and shoot yourself (or even kill yourself), it is another to kill someone else.

 

[JayMcB]

Even when I drop a mag I rack the slide 3 times in rapid succession. This helps prevent your first story. If your habit is to rack more than once, you'll cycle a loaded round out when a loaded mag is inserted. Rounds flying out of your gun as you rack it is a good reminder you need to square your shit away mentally and get back on point. This can be a good stop gap when you are fatigued.

I thought I was the only OCD full anal retentive idiot who did this, except of course for my kids, who rack x3 and follow Appleseed range rules.

 

[71montess]

As has been said before, alot of cops dont handle their firearm much. NRA safe gun rules apply.

 

[Periphery]

As has been said before, alot of cops dont handle their firearm much. NRA safe gun rules apply.

The hilarious part is I worked for a security company that said the LTC and even part time police academy was enough to carry. No one else could.

 

[boscru]

Even when I drop a mag I rack the slide 3 times in rapid succession. This helps prevent your first story. If your habit is to rack more than once, you'll cycle a loaded round out when a loaded mag is inserted. Rounds flying out of your gun as you rack it is a good reminder you need to square your shit away mentally and get back on point. This can be a good stop gap when you are fatigued.

yup ---always rack more than once---2 is good , 3 is better

 

[Cloverleaf Firearms Group]

I know this may sound like picking nits... but here's the way I look at clearing guns. I don't tell people to look for an empty chamber. The brain sees what it wants to see. I tell them to look for brass. It's a more affirmative way (imo) of verifying an empty chamber. Brains play tricks. I also try to be in the habit of just locking back slide after dropping a magazine, then I look for brass, then I do my OCD racking session.

 

[jpm]

I clean my gun at home after qualifying. There is no gun on the market for general LE use that can't handle being 'dirty' for an hour or two.

this was probably not an option. My closest friend is a deputy sheriff in a different county in FL and after qualifying they are required to clean their gun before presenting it to the armorer for inspection.