Cop shoots himself after gun-safety lesson

[Judi Lynn]

Cop shoots himself after gun-safety lesson
Ohio police chief injured following bid to teach daughter about firearms

updated 52 minutes ago
MONROE, Ohio - A top cop mistakenly shot himself in the thigh after giving his daughter a lesson in gun safety, police said.

Middletown police Chief Greg Schwarber, 54, was preparing to clean his Glock .45-caliber pistol on Friday and didn't realize the gun was still loaded, according to a police report.

Written by officers from neighboring Monroe, the report said the bullet entered Schwarber's leg just above the knee.

When officers arrived, they found the chief lying on the floor with a towel covering his leg. Schwarber was taken to a hospital for treatment.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27963920 /

[Historic NY]

1. LQQK...bang....oops.....guess he didn't follow the training directions.

1.Unload the pistol by removing the magazine and racking the slide manually a minimum of 3 times. Make sure that the pistol is pointed in a safe direction and that you keep your finger OFF the trigger.

2.Confirm that the pistol is unloaded by visually inspecting the chamber and the magazine well.

3.After confirming that the pistol is unloaded (more than once), point the pistol in a safe direction and pull the trigger.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. I feel this is a design problem with the Glock.

(Assuming that is what he was shot with)

With only a trigger safety, if he was intending to place the weapon in it's holster with a round chambered, and the weapon cocked, if any foreign object finds it's way into the trigger guard (like the retention strap on the holster) you stand a good chance of shooting yourself.

Other brands have different solutions, I like the grip safety on the Springfield XD series, because when holstering, when the webbing of your thumb opens as you pull your fingers back, you will not have the grip safety engaged, so even if something gets into the trigger guard and disables the trigger safety (just like the Glock's trigger safety) you will not shoot yourself.


EDIT: I read a different early report of this than the one linked in the OP. If he was just cleaning it, he's an idiot and the trigger/safety features would not have had any bearing on the issue.

[pipoman]

4. I think there have been many similar incidents

see my post #3. This maybe could be eliminated if these were a decock feature on the gun.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

6. That was one of my reasons for buying an XD.

[pipoman]

3. Yep

For those who are not aware, a Glock requires that the spring tension be released before the gun an be disassembled. This means that the gun must be dry fired (trigger pulled with no round in the chamber). This was a careless mistake. Thank dog he wasn't pointing toward his daughter.

[Testament]

8. Never had problems with my glock...

But then again, I'm not an idiot police chief. They certainly pride themselves on being professional enough, but they sure love to shoot themselves in the leg.

Also, the reason the Glock needs to be dry fired is so the striker is no longer caught on the sear. If you try to pull the slide off without dry firing, it will come off about 1/4" and then stop.

And, as always, remember the 4 RULES!

[aikoaiko]

5. Glad he didn't injure/kill his daughter -- and I'm glad his lesson wasn't more injurous/fatal

Release mag. Check, double check, triple check that chamber.

Point in safe direction. Pull trigger.

[jeepnstein]

7. They teach this in the Academy.

You're supposed to say "See, that's how easy it is to shoot yourself. Call an ambulance." Falling to the floor and writhing in pain is also part of the whole scenario.

Cops are the worst at gun safety. I could tell stories that would make your head spin.