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Portland officer dies after accidental shooting

Thats sad news

seems more officers injuring themself or being reckless with weapons

maybe their departments should require more regular safety courses, every 6 months to the firing range or something
 
Well...guns don't "go off" on their own, that's for sure..however, if there is some kind of defect with the pistol causing it to discharge in some bizarre manner (S&W MP 45, maybe?) this will create some problems for the gang down in Springfield.

Our sympathies are with the officer's family.

Mark L.
 
This is sad news, my condolances to the family, friends and fellow LEOs.... This tragic accident is a wake up call for all of us who take firearm safety for granted, and stand back and re-educate ourselves or refresh our minds about muzzle management....
 
As I recall, LEOs statistically have more accidental firearm discharges than any other group. They are handling loaded firearms more often than the rest of us mere citizens, so it is not surprising. Still not good what happened though.
 
I wouldnt argue with you on that.... When I was on the Dept. I used to leave the gun in the holster, and put the whole duty belt into the big safe...
 
The report indicates that the officer was preparing his utility belt for his next work tour. I wonder what kind of holster he used and whether or not it has anything to do with this tragic event.
Best Regards.
 
Gaffer said:
A Portland police officer is dead following an apparently accidental shooting in the leg last night at his home in Westbrook.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=185869&ac=PHnws
He apparently bled to death after severing the femoral artery with the .45 Cal. bullet from his S & W service pistol. A wife and two young children. Gonna be tough on them!
Click to expand...

You mean NEGLIGENT shooting, not accidental.

One of the rules for safe gun handling is to never point a firearm at anything that you would rather not have destroyed.

Now this officer leaves behind grieving survivors who need not be widows/orphans.

God knows I hate NDs!
 
I wonder if it was a model with a decocker on it, doesnt excuse the safe direction rule, but it might explain the ND...
 
otasan said:
You mean NEGLIGENT shooting, not accidental.

One of the rules for safe gun handling is to never point a firearm at anything that you would rather not have destroyed.

Now this officer leaves behind grieving survivors who need not be widows/orphans.

God knows I hate NDs!
Click to expand...

+1 theres nothing "accidental" about shooting your self with your side arm its pure negligents
 
Be interesting to see what happened. Yes, most of the accidents are negligent in nature but accidents do happen with some pistols. Those of group that likes Glocks ( like me ) know that you need to keep EVERYTHING out of the trigger guard area besides just your finger. Any of the pistols using that design basis will have that problem and it's one of those things that you need to be constantly aware of when reholstering your sidearm.

Joe R.
 
Oh I realize it was a ND but I only copied and pasted the media report. They have a lot to learn about firearms. Initially they reported this as a cleaning accident. Muzzle control is the key!
 
2 absolutes of firearms safety, 1) muzzle management 2) trigger finger discipline
 
Cops shooting themselves while cleaning their guns is like a politician making any sense... it doesnt happen... All LEOs are taught at the academy to unload an check to make sure its unloaded before you clean it...
 
Yes cops are people, people make mistakes, there is no room for error or mistakes when it comes to firearms...cops that dont like guns shouldnt be cops, they dont have the same respect for them that they should... I hate fire so therefore I will never be a Firefighter... by choice anyway... they need to practice all aspects of firearm handling..
 
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In fact this is a valuble lesson for everyone, we tend to lax on certain things, especially when we're comfortable with something... or have done it a million times...
 
drew said:
Cops shooting themselves while cleaning their guns is like a politician making any sense... it doesnt happen... All LEOs are taught at the academy to unload an check to make sure its unloaded before you clean it...
Click to expand...


It doesn't huh? I happen to know that it has happened. Just because they are taught something at the academy does not mean anything.

They are also taught to not lie, steal, do drugs or violate civil rights.
 
Is what I meant, was cops dont AD their firearm while cleaning their gun, its a scape goat for them taking their own lives or an attempt in case they fail....
 
As I recall, LEOs statistically have more accidental firearm discharges than any other group
Click to expand...

Stats like that would be meaningless. The data would be incomplete. Common sense would tell you that AD's are not reported by civilians unless it was in the view of the public and then it would be hit or miss. An AD by anyone in LE that occurred on duty would have to be reported as they usually occur in the hdqts. building themselves. Even then, I have no doubt that some LE ad's go unreported.

How many AD's occur in a specific area if a guess, and probably a inaccurate one at that.
 
I've seen a few involving the Glock system . As they currently are the most popular le handgun out there, they would be involved in the majority of these incidents.

But the bottom line usually comes out to be a failure to concentrate on the task at hand , be it be maintenance or re holstering.
 
drew said:
Is what I meant, was cops dont AD their firearm while cleaning their gun, its a scape goat for them taking their own lives or an attempt in case they fail....
Click to expand...

Sorry, that doesn't fly in this case. Someone is not going to try to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the leg. This one sounds like a ND.
 
we are all taught at the academy, 40+ hrs of firearms safe handling and marksmenship skills, also taught keep finger out of trigger guard til ready to shoot, always be aware of your muzzle and the direction it is pointed in... so how do you like the AD theory now??
 
30 years I never saw a suicide, attempted or successful that involved shooting themselves in the leg. I've seen an idiot criminal stuff a 1911 into his pants and shoot himself in the leg though.
 
That is well and good, but people become desensitized and relaxed about anything they are constantly around. In a former life, I was a chemist around a lot of explosive and nasty chemicals. When you start out you are paranoid and wear gloves, sometimes a mask, etc. After a while, I stopped wearing the mask, and then the gloves went. And then I started eating lunch beside the chemicals without even thinking about it.

The point is when exposed to dangerous items for sustained periods, people tend to forget the true power of the dangerous items.

Let's assume that an AD or ND occurs roughly 1 in 10,000 gun handling/cleanings. As the police are going to be doing that more often and all police have a gun, then ergo, the police will have more AD's or ND's. QED.
 
In most cases when you hear of an AD from a LEO, resulting in death, its not usually a leg shot... maybe he wasnt the one who had the gun in his hand.....
 
Maybe you're just letting your imagination run away with you on this one. An ND to the lower extremity is very common. Training in a law enforcement academy isn't an issue. ND's can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, this one resulted in a fatality.
 

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