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Lodi Police Officer Shot When Child Pulled Trigger On His Gun At Reading Event
 [SACRAMENTO.CBSLOCAL] A Lodi Police SWAT officer had a Glock 35 with a flashlight in his thigh holster at a children's reading event when a boy managed to pull the trigger and shoot the officer.Musta been some kinda reading event if they had to call in the SWAT team. "It doesn't have an external safety or anything like that," said Lt. Sierra Brucia with the department. "The gun functioned how it was supposed to. When the trigger was pulled, the gun went off." Ummm... Yazzz... Mingle with children whilst wearing a weapon that doesn't have a safety. That sounds like good policy. The officer was showing off the department's SWAT truck, vest and other gear at a children's event called Reading Roundup on Aug. 24. Now that I ponder the subject, he said ponderously, it might not even be good policy to use guns that don't have safeties even if the officers aren't showing off in front of kiddies. "A small child, witnesses tell us was 6 to 8 years old, was able to walk up to the officer and was able to pull the trigger." In the course of twenty years in the Army, I never had a weapon that didn't have a safety. The M16 does. It prevents accidental discharges, or so they told us. Mine never accidentally discharged, so they probably spoke truth. What's more dangerous, that you don't have time to flip a safety off? Con Thien? Or Lonzo barricaded in Mom's house? What kind of artillery support does Lonzo have? The bullet hit the officer's leg. Holster. Hip. Gun points down. It's gonna be either the leg or the foot or both, unless he was squatting and missed, or leaning over, in which case the kid got it through the nostril. He was taken to the hospital for a minor injury and released. "It's just a flesh wound, doc!" "You're right. Point that thing in some other direction, if you don't mind... No, don't lean over. Nurse Rachet's standing right behind you." The department is investigating the shooting to see if protocols or procedures need to be changed to prevent the same thing from happening again. Here's a suggestion: ditch the firearms that don't have safeties. Failing that, don't bring 'em around kiddies. Failing that, don't keep a round in the chamber. Officers want to find the child and his parents to piece together what went wrong. Cop showing off equipment. Curious little kiddies. No safety. What could possibly go wrong? "Hopefully, speaking to the child and the child's parents to find out how they were able to get access to the officer's gun, what the child's intent may have been--we don't know if it was accidental or unintentional." I'm guessing the child was waist high and just wanted to touch it. Living in a gun-free society, he/she/it was probably fascinated. I could be wrong, of course. He could be a hardened felon by age six, trying to do murder. Police say because the gun was in a holster to accommodate the attached flashlight, the trigger was more accessible. Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Posted by: Fred 2013-09-04 |
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