Posted on 01/23/2025 6:52:31 AM PST by Red Badger
The wounded driver plans on suing. Newly released bodycam video shows the moment when a Jacksonville police officer shot a Florida man during a routine traffic stop. The cop was charged and reportedly terminated after the accidental shooting.
On Dec. 13, 2024, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office police officer S. Lowry conducted a routine traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Jason Arrington. The officer accused Arrington of driving through a red light, and Arrington disagreed.
Bodycam video shows Arrington being compliant during the traffic stop and informing Officer Lowry that he was armed with a gun.
"So what we're gonna do is — just for my safety and your safety — I'm gonna have you step out of the vehicle," the officer instructs Arrington. "And we're just gonna remove the pistol from you."
The officer continued, "Then we're gonna run your license and make sure everything is good, and then I'm gonna send you on your way."
Officer Lowry informs two other officers at the scene that the driver is "very compliant" and "he does have a pistol on him."
Police bodycam video shows Arrington exiting the vehicle and then placing his hands on the roof of his truck.
Officer Mindy Cardwell is seen on police bodycam video attempting to extract the gun holstered in Arrington's waistband.
"She tugged on the gun the first time, then she tugged again," Arrington explained before adding, "I don't know, she might have got nervous or whatever, and she pulled harder two more times, and that's when it discharged."
Suddenly, a gunshot is heard in the video, and Arrington is seen slumping down in pain.
Lowry can be heard screaming, "Holy s**t!"
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said in a statement, "While Officer Cardwell was attempting to remove the firearm, it discharged, striking Mr. Arrington in the leg."
The bullet hit Arrington in the upper thigh and went through his right side.
Bodycam video shows Officer Caldwell's finger on the trigger of Arrington's handgun as she removes it from his waistband.
Within seconds, blood is seen flowing down Arrington's leg, and he needs assistance from an officer to walk. Officer A. Weippert applies a tourniquet to Arrington's leg, and Arrington is seen grimacing in pain. The officer then cuts the pants off Arrington's leg to locate the gunshot wound.
Following the police shooting, Officer Lowry is heard whispering to himself: "Goddamn."
Lowry also is heard telling dispatch that the police shooting was a "negligent discharge."
In a late-December press conference, Arrington announced that he planned to sue over the officer-involved shooting.
“It messed with me as far as me working and stuff,” Arrington said. "Certain things in my job I can’t do no more, perform, like getting up on equipment and stuff, you know, different things."
"I have to get on top of trains and unload stuff, forklift, crane, whatever I have to do at my job. It’s kind of hard for me to do it. I can do it, but it’s challenging, like real bad," Arrington stated.
Arrington's attorney — Kay Harper Williams — stated, "Gun owners in this state should be able to carry their firearms without the fear of an officer pulling them over on the side of the road, then voluntarily disclosing they’re carrying a firearm, then being shot with their own weapon."
Williams said she believes Officer Caldwell "was not properly trained" and "certainly did not follow proper protocol."
Weeks after the incident, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office released a memo spotlighting how police should conduct stops involving a citizen legally carrying a concealed firearm.
"The burden of proving an individual is not eligible to carry a concealed firearm falls on the investigating officer and is not an automatic presumption," the memo reads. "Unless an officer has articulable suspicion that the detained person presents a threat to the safety of citizens or officers or has knowledge that the detained person is ineligible to carry a concealed firearm, officers should not seize a firearm (i.e. remove it from holster, vehicle, pocket, bag, etc.) from someone lawfully carrying it."
Internal Affairs launched an investigation, and Cardwell was hit with a sustained charge of incompetence.
CBS News on Wednesday reported that Caldwell had been fired.
A week after the traffic stop, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office dismissed the traffic citation against Arrington.
You can watch police bodycam footage from all three of the officers involved in the shooting incident at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's official Facebook page, but it should be noted that the video is graphic.
No no no, she obviously fingered the trigger which should NEVER happen. This is all on the incompetent cop.
Weather a safety would have prevented this or not is pointless when a supposed person trained in firearms fingers a trigger when not intending to fire.
Also there are a lot of reasons why you do not carry for defense and have the safety on. The biggest is what is the point of using a disable gun for defense carrying. An engaged safety makes it more likely the gun will not be ready when it is most needed in an emergency.
Also I believe the Glock uses a trigger mechanism and does not have a safety as you are thinking.
Whether not weather
At the police academy, teach these cops direct pressure to stop bleeding, uneducated dorks should not be applying tourniquets, someone could lose a limb, and use tourniquets only as a last resort.
LOL!
I do not carry with a round chambered, for this very reason.
DEI HIRE?
There was NO reason to disarm the man for a minor traffic violation.
There is NO reason to have females as beat cops.
I hope he gets all the money due to him, and retires.
Revolvers, with few exceptions, have never have had a safety.
That is what I recall, I am a Walther guy myself, love PPQs.
It is easier to pull the pistol out by grabbing inside trigger area. The female cop was having a hard time pulling the pistol out of the holster. I call it accidental shooting by incompetent cop.
When seconds count, no round in the chamber gets you stabbed — Tueller Drill
Women should not be allowed on the police force in that capacity. They aren’t strong enough to subdue a larger man. They can’t pull an adult from a burning car. Etc. Especially on a police force that lowers the physical fitness bar to accommodate them.
Thank God for the body cam. twenty years ago, in some parts of the country, the man might have been killed with his own gun after the accidental discharge...(shot while resisting arrest).
There is an aftermarket trigger safety for Glocks. I installed one on my edc but later removed it. I just didn’t like it. YMMV.
Exactly. Studies have shown that female officers are much quicker to resort to deadly force because of their lack of physical strength.
A few years later, I decided to change what I carried to a more "belt AND suspenders" - so to speak - handgun operating system WRT (my) safety. The idea of some DEI hire fumbling for my pistol helped make manual safeties great again ("MMSGA").
Another empty kitchen.
Agree, female cops have are better for comforting children and female crime victims.
“...in some parts of the country, the man might have been killed with his own gun...”
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That’s right. Here in the deep South we always used to shoot the blacks to keep’em from gettin uppity. Don’t believe that? Watch any Hollywood movie from the 60’s-80’s. All the proof you’ll ever need.
Your trigger finger is the safety on a Glock! Proper training and understanding of how to handle a damned gun (firearms safety classes for instance) is really what is at issue here.
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