Fort Worth officer shoots self in hand
By Deanna Boyd
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - A Fort Worth police officer was accidentally shot in the left hand Tuesday morning when a gun discharged as he was disassembling it to clean at the department's firing range.
The 43-year-old officer, whom police declined to identify, was taken to Harris Methodist Fort Worth. The 22-year police veteran underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon, and a hospital spokeswoman said he was in fair condition.
"When he was in the ER, he could wiggle his fingers," said Lt. Al Allcon, a police spokesman. "They were concerned that a fragment of the bullet may have hit" a wrist bone.
Allcon said the officer had just completed qualifying at the range in the 1000 block of Calvert Court when the accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m.
"He had gone into the gun cleaning room and apparently was starting to disable his weapon," Allcon said. "He failed to clear the weapon and double check and make sure it didn't have a round in it."
Allcon said a single round in the chamber of a Glock Model 27 semiautomatic discharged when the officer pulled the trigger to take the slide off. The bullet pierced the officer's left hand before lodging in a bench in the room.
Two other officers in the room were not injured, Allcon said.
The incident is believed to have been the first accidental shooting of a Fort Worth police officer at the range since it was built in 1985. Allcon said the last accident at the range involved an officer from another agency who shot himself in the leg while holstering his gun.
The incident is under investigation by the department's major case unit, as is routine in all police-involved shootings.
"Obviously, the range will again review the policies that they have there, but I think this wasn't due to anything that was not established in a policy or any lack of a policy," Allcon said. "I think it was just oversight on the officer's part."
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/4348284.htm
All in all, pretty even-handed
rolleyes: ) for the startle-gram....
By Deanna Boyd
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - A Fort Worth police officer was accidentally shot in the left hand Tuesday morning when a gun discharged as he was disassembling it to clean at the department's firing range.
The 43-year-old officer, whom police declined to identify, was taken to Harris Methodist Fort Worth. The 22-year police veteran underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon, and a hospital spokeswoman said he was in fair condition.
"When he was in the ER, he could wiggle his fingers," said Lt. Al Allcon, a police spokesman. "They were concerned that a fragment of the bullet may have hit" a wrist bone.
Allcon said the officer had just completed qualifying at the range in the 1000 block of Calvert Court when the accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m.
"He had gone into the gun cleaning room and apparently was starting to disable his weapon," Allcon said. "He failed to clear the weapon and double check and make sure it didn't have a round in it."
Allcon said a single round in the chamber of a Glock Model 27 semiautomatic discharged when the officer pulled the trigger to take the slide off. The bullet pierced the officer's left hand before lodging in a bench in the room.
Two other officers in the room were not injured, Allcon said.
The incident is believed to have been the first accidental shooting of a Fort Worth police officer at the range since it was built in 1985. Allcon said the last accident at the range involved an officer from another agency who shot himself in the leg while holstering his gun.
The incident is under investigation by the department's major case unit, as is routine in all police-involved shootings.
"Obviously, the range will again review the policies that they have there, but I think this wasn't due to anything that was not established in a policy or any lack of a policy," Allcon said. "I think it was just oversight on the officer's part."
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/4348284.htm
All in all, pretty even-handed
rolleyes: ) for the startle-gram....