Jailers have negligent discharge in a hospital

[M-Quigley]

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A Fannin County jailer was guarding a pregnant inmate at Wilson N. Jones who was in labor.

Just before 7 a.m., the sheriff said that guard switched shifts with another guard who was unarmed and that's when the shot was fired.

"The guard exchanged the weapon, took it out of the holster, and supposedly cleared the gun, pulled the clip out of it and handed it over and during that time it went off," Fannin County Sheriff Mark Johnson said.

The sheriff said the gun accidentally discharged. Where that bullet went is still unknown.

It happened on a floor packed with families, newborns, visitors and workers, but no one was hit.

"I'm sure everybody was kind of freaked out at the time, you don't really hear that happening too much, especially by an officer who is in control of the weapon," Preston Fusclier said.

Preston Fusclier has a family member at Wilson N. Jones right now. He said an accident like this is should never happen, especially in a hospital.

"I think what it comes down to is gun safety, I don't know if it maybe wasn't on safety when he handed his pistol over, but just thankfully nobody got hurt," Fusclier said.

The sheriff said he's now looking into how the shot was fired and the way the gun was exchanged. He wants to make sure this never happens again.

"Be sure everything was done properly if it truly was just an accident or if it was some type of careless mistake, I hope that's not the case and I don't know that it is, but we're gonna be looking at that," Johnson said.

[calvin56]

Both guards should have had their own weapon. Making an exchange was stupid, especially with half trained lug nuts. A classic example of clearing the weapon in the wrong order then violating 2 of the 4 rules. Since it is obvious that the sheriff needs training along with at least 2 jailers I would say mandatory training for the whole department is in order.

[AlanM]

I've told this story before but it bears repeating.
The gun club I joined just after moving here to Charlottesville in '11 has been the training facility for several law enforcement agencies in the area but a couple years ago they were given their walking papers.

EDIT: Note these agencies were NOT being charged to use the indoor and outdoor ranges and club members were excluded during their training times. All they were asked to do was clean up after themselves.

The club BOD had become tired of having to get the indoor range and clubhouse walls, ceilings, and roof repaired due to bullet holes.
Just a week after the last incident when a 9mm bullet passed through a wall and into one of the restrooms there was an ND at the C'ville cop shop while a training officer was observing.

Basically too many people get the first two steps of clearing a firearm backwards.
1. Remove magazine.
2. Cycle the slide to eject the round in chamber.
3. Point gun in a safe direction (preferably into a clearing barrel full of sand).
4. Pull trigger to drop the hammer.

IF steps 1 and 2 are reversed and 3 isn't followed then 4 results in a loud BANG! and if luck holds the damage is limited to some property damage and dirty shorts.

[DontTreadOnMe]

Why were they clearing the firearm anyway? If he was giving it to his replacement, why did that replacement need a cleared firearm? I guess maybe there's a procedure when handing a firearm to someone else, but in this case - when giving it to your replacement who will need to re-load it right away - it seems to just be unnecessary gun handling.

Second question, for Alan - You gave the steps for clearing a firearm. Why does that involve pulling the trigger? If you're taking it down, sure, but if you're just clearing it to make it safe? I'd have thought step 3 would be something like "lock the slide back". I'm not challenging you, just wondering if that's what you meant and, if so, the thinking behind it.

[Brian D.]

It reminds me of a moment in "The Life Aquatic ":

"Do the interns get Glocks?"

"They share one."

[M-Quigley]

Why were they clearing the firearm anyway? If he was giving it to his replacement, why did that replacement need a cleared firearm? I guess maybe there's a procedure when handing a firearm to someone else, but in this case - when giving it to your replacement who will need to re-load it right away - it seems to just be unnecessary gun handling.

Second question, for Alan - You gave the steps for clearing a firearm. Why does that involve pulling the trigger? If you're taking it down, sure, but if you're just clearing it to make it safe? I'd have thought step 3 would be something like "lock the slide back". I'm not challenging you, just wondering if that's what you meant and, if so, the thinking behind it.

I read somewhere that when changing shifts they have to unload the handgun in order to count the rounds. If any are missing, a report needs to be filed. What they do if they need the gun while they're doing All of this I don't know.

[Face]

It sound like something from a comedy.

Amazed they have more than one shell

[schmieg]

Why were they clearing the firearm anyway? If he was giving it to his replacement, why did that replacement need a cleared firearm? I guess maybe there's a procedure when handing a firearm to someone else, but in this case - when giving it to your replacement who will need to re-load it right away - it seems to just be unnecessary gun handling.

Second question, for Alan - You gave the steps for clearing a firearm. Why does that involve pulling the trigger? If you're taking it down, sure, but if you're just clearing it to make it safe? I'd have thought step 3 would be something like "lock the slide back". I'm not challenging you, just wondering if that's what you meant and, if so, the thinking behind it.

Alan's description is (was, anyway) standard military clearing procedure. The troop would retain the weapon and reholster it following the clearing procedure.

I recall serving as Payroll Officer over in Germany and going through this. The officer behind me reversed the order of clearing the chamber and dropping the mag, followed by a loud bang as sand flew from the 50 gallon drum. This was followed by a SSG giving a 1LT a dressing down and a lesson in safety procedure. I was sure glad I knew the proper order, listening to that Staff Sergeant rip into the Lieutenant. Not a single officer objected to the Sergeant's treatment of him either.

[WestonDon]

I have a friend who was severely wounded in Vietnam because one of the guys in his squad reversed steps one and two and totally ignored step three.

[evan price]

I read somewhere that when changing shifts they have to unload the handgun in order to count the rounds. If any are missing, a report needs to be filed. What they do if they need the gun while they're doing All of this I don't know.

A friend works armed security at a federal courthouse. There are only enough guns for the guards on shift. Every shift change they have to unload and count and sign a log for every bullet including the ones in spare mags. They do this one pair at a time do there are always armed guards on duty. They have 40 cal S&W M&Ps.
I pointed out that this was getting a lot of unnecessary wear on the ammo. Chewed up rims, scraped up cases, possible setback of the bullet. He agreed and said he honestly would question if the ammo would be reliable if they needed it.

[schmieg]

I read somewhere that when changing shifts they have to unload the handgun in order to count the rounds. If any are missing, a report needs to be filed. What they do if they need the gun while they're doing All of this I don't know.

A friend works armed security at a federal courthouse. There are only enough guns for the guards on shift. Every shift change they have to unload and count and sign a log for every bullet including the ones in spare mags. They do this one pair at a time do there are always armed guards on duty. They have 40 cal S&W M&Ps.
I pointed out that this was getting a lot of unnecessary wear on the ammo. Chewed up rims, scraped up cases, possible setback of the bullet. He agreed and said he honestly would question if the ammo would be reliable if they needed it.

That's what happens when bean counters take over operational control.

[M-Quigley]

What if they were issued S&W .45 revolvers with full moon clips? There would be less rounds to count.

[schmieg]

The cost of buying each guard his own weapon and ammo would be significantly less than the cost of settling one lawsuit if someone is injured.

[OhioPaints]

A friend works armed security at a federal courthouse. There are only enough guns for the guards on shift. Every shift change they have to unload and count and sign a log for every bullet including the ones in spare mags. They do this one pair at a time do there are always armed guards on duty. They have 40 cal S&W M&Ps.
I pointed out that this was getting a lot of unnecessary wear on the ammo. Chewed up rims, scraped up cases, possible setback of the bullet. He agreed and said he honestly would question if the ammo would be reliable if they needed it.

Absolutely scary! Hopefully they never fire those rounds, even for practice.

There is (was?) a documented report on "The Gun Zone" where they had a Kaboom with 40SW factory ammo on the range. The officer started investigating and measuring and found significant setback on some factory rounds that had been rechambered only 3 or 4 times. 180gr 40SW is especially at risk because of the very minimal case space left with the deep seated bullet.