DEA agent shoots self during gun safety class for Orlando kids

The Miami Herald ^ | Fri, Apr. 30, 2004 | Associated Press

[archy]

DEA agent shoots self during gun safety class for Orlando kids

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. - A federal drug agent shot himself in the leg during a gun safety presentation to children and his bosses are investigating.

The Drug Enforcement Administration agent, whose name was not released, was giving a gun safety presentation to about 50 adults and students organized by the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, witnesses and police said.

He drew his .40-caliber duty weapon and removed the magazine, according to the police report. Then he pulled back the slide and asked someone in the audience to look inside the gun and confirm it wasn't loaded, the report said.

Witnesses said the gun was pointed at the floor and when he released the slide, one shot fired into the top of his left thigh.

"The kids screamed and started to cry," said Vivian Farmer, who attended the presentation with her 13-year-old nephew.

"Everyone was pretty shaken up," Farmer said. "But the point of gun safety hit home. Unfortunately, the agent had to get shot. But after seeing that, my nephew doesn't want to have anything to do with guns."

The agent was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center after the April 9 shooting and returned to work, DEA special agent Joe Kilmer said.

Police ruled the shooting was an accident, but the DEA headquarters in Washington was still investigating, Kilmer said.

[B4Ranch]

"A couple of years ago, some cops from Raleigh, NC (an hour away), lost a H&K MP-5, in its plastic case, on the way to training."

"Boy, I don't if I could resist the temptation if I found something like that...naaahh, I would just turn it in significantly more used than when they lost it."

Maybe there wasn't any ammo in the case?

[glock rocks]

Whew. That's some spooky history. Their last "upgrade" recall pissed of more than a few glock owners. I love 'em on the range, but I carry a SIG.

[Delta 21]

I watched the Police Chief of my small town put a .45 round into a Coke machine across the lobby of City Hall that way.

People who cant competently handle a magazine fed slide operated pistol deserved to be shot in the leg.

I hope the kids never forget the lesson.

[MileHi]

...and since he was pointing the gun down, the round would not just pop out.

Umm, that's not how extractors work...

[1L]

Something here does NOT make sense.

I agree. Its likely the article was not correct. IF it happened as the article said, then the handgun was defective. I'm wondering whether it was a Glock 22/23, a Sig 226/8/9, or a Sig Pro 2340 (or whatever the number is). I think it is one of those models.

HOWEVER, please not that in some handguns (specifically the H&K USP) the slide will release and chamber the round if the magazine is inserted with some force. Of course, this is different, but there are quirks will all handguns, and any hg owner MUST become intimately familiar with their weapon.

Repeat after me: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO FIRE. If you don't think you can do that, practice until you can.

[Sir_Ed]

"I remember an occasion in a HS outdoor education class where we had a cop come in to teach a firearm safety unit. He pulled out a little Baretta .22 or .25 semi-auto and popped the magazine out and then waived the gun around briefly pointing it toward the desks where we were seated."

Reminds me of when I saw Oklahoma at my local high school.

One scene had a woman waving a pistol around, and it was obvious the pistol was real, prolly borrowed from her Dad, and another scene had a man waving a rifle around, also obviously a real rifle.

In both instances the pistol and rifle were sweeping repeatedly across the audience, and the actress and actor's fingers were inside the trigger guard, curled around the trigger.

I shrank in my seat each time the muzzle swept across us, and my heart started pounding, but I didn't know what else to do

I do believe the guns were checked, and...as this was in rural Oregon, I believe that the teachers, directors and actors knew enough about guns to double and triple check that they weren't loaded, but it still sent shock waves of fear through me to see those guns being waved around so cavalierly.

Ed

[Sir_Ed]

"Maybe there wasn't any ammo in the case?"

Then run down to Wal-Mart and buy a few cases full of 9mm ammo!

Ed

[Badray]

After reading the replies, I think that I know what happened.

He asked to the kids to see if there was a bullet in the gun. They didn't look in the pipe. They didn't know to look in the pipe. They just looked straight down thru the grip and didn't see anything and said it was empty.

The agent is still an idiot. I carry everyday but I haven't touched the trigger since the last time I was on the range.

[Darksheare]

"Then he pulled back the slide and asked someone in the audience to look inside the gun and confirm it wasn't loaded, the report said. "

My first question: Was the person who 'confirmed it was empty' afraid of guns, and did they ACTUALLY look to see that the chamber truly was empty or did they glance quickly and say 'yup'?

[hattend]

The presentation was part of a class called "The Game of Life, The Game of Golf," according to a police report. It was held by the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, which aims to introduce minority children to the sport. The agent was speaking to the youths about making good life choices and included a presentation on gun safety, according to the report.

I always take my gun to the golf course, I plink my opponents' balls into the woods when they aren't looking.

[UncleJeff]

Now THAT is a dedicated instructor...

[Darksheare]

LOL!

I am the THIRD man on the grassy knoll!
(Or is it I AM the grassy knoll? I never do get that right..)

It's horrible, but like a train wreck I can't keep my eyes away.
It's funny in a horrible way.

[dimk]

This reminds me of an army training camp that I had to go through while in highschool in former ussr. One of the other students carabine jammed so he turned around pointing the gun in the general direction of the sergeant while pressing the trigger and saying:"See it jammed!". The sergeant who previously served in afganistan in para knocked the gun out of the guys hands, then knocked him out with a left hook. After he awoke he was sent to a permanent toilet cleaning(not your north american toilet either) duty till the end of the course. I think he learned the lesson after that

[Eva]

I don't know much about guns but, isn't likely, or at least possible that one bullet would be chambered even with the clip removed?

[Darksheare]

Wouldn't that hurt?

[hattend]

HEHAHAHAHAHAAH!

Okay, I plink their GOLF balls into the woods. ;-)

You're killing me!!! LOL

[archy]

Wouldn't that hurt?

[Lawrence of Arabia has just extinguished a match between his thumb and forefinger. William Potter surreptitiously attempts the same]
William Potter: Ooh! It damn well 'urts!
T.E. Lawrence: Certainly it hurts.
Officer:
What's the trick then?
T.E. Lawrence: The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.

--Lawrence of Arabia, by way of Peter O'Toole

[usurper]

If he did both (remove the mag. & pull back the slide) why was there still a round in the gun?

He removed the mag and pulled back the slide however the extractor failed to grab and remove the live round still in the chamber.

I witnessed the exact same thing happen to a friend of mine with a Remington 870. Put a nice hole through a basement wall and my ears are still ringing just thinking about it.

As a range office I actually incorporated this type of failure into my training program. “Using inert ammo”, I would load up an 870 in front of the class but would not close the breach all the way so the extractor would not engage the round in the chamber. I would then slowly go through the standard unloading procedures step by step in front of the students. With the breach still open I would ask the class if the weapon was now safe and they would all nod in agreement.

I would then fully close the breach and rack out the round that has been sitting in the chamber the whole time. To the stunned and dismayed students I would then explain how this kind of failure occurs.

[Darksheare]

Sorry!
*Chuckle*
This thread and the article just lend the jokes out there.
But, seeing some of the local golfers in my area, I can see how such would be tempting.

;-)

[Darksheare]

Sorry!
*Chuckle*
This thread and the article just lend the jokes out there.
But, seeing some of the local golfers in my area, I can see how such would be tempting.

;-)