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.

[PLMerite]

The Darwin Award is given to someone who removes themselves from the gene pool either through death or otherwise making themselves incapable of reproduction.

If this guy's aim had been a little better he could have still qualified.

[eastforker]

See post 164. Why would the DEA give a safe gun handling class to a minority golf club?

[Darksheare]

Or both?
The local reporters in New Jersey were all rooting for the PETA clowns who were planning on assaulting children who were going to participate in teh bearhunt, that is, until it became clear that most of the locals disagreed with the PETA clowns.
Printing time came around, and the articles were written more towards saying that threatening children was a no-no.
there were digs in there about dangerous guns and that the bears were being threatened from their 'homes' by the encroachment of MAN.
Nevermind that the bear hunt has been suspended a few times and at one point hunting the bear in New Jersey was illegal, even if it was swallowing your dog and chasing your kids.
(New Jersey has an over population of teh darn things actually.)

Point being that Anti-2nd Amendment types will skew anything to accomplish their goals.
I don't doubt that the writer was either ignorant of the trigger factoid, or willfully omitting it.

[eastforker]

Joe Kilmer, Special Agent,
Public Information Officer
Office: 305-994-4837
Cellular: 305-345-6085

[SauronOfMordor]

if he removed the magazine and pulled back the slide, shouldn't that have cleared the round that would've been chambered? And is it normal for the gun to go off if he let the slide go back forward too quickly?

Not knowing the brand of gun, it's hard to tell what happened. I'm thinking a failure to eject caused by having the gun pointing down. I wouldn't be surprised at finding failure to ever clean the gun, and the firing pin being stuck in the forward position

But a cop in Philly has him beat. A year or two ago a cop was in a classroom and passed around her duty Glock for show and tell, removing the mag but not noticing the round still in the chamber. It dropped, she grabbed for it, it went off, slightly wounding a little kid.

[Joe 6-pack]

"I think the Darwin is given posthumously, but he is eligible as a runner up."

Technically, the Darwin is given to those who have removed themselves from the gene pool; therefore, the agent could have qualified without killing himself, had he just blown his balls off.

[eastforker]

OH, one more thing. If this really did happen does anyone believe the DEA would release this story showing their agents being this inept? A Philly cop I can understand but a DEA Agent being this careless? Ever wonder why they didn't release the agents name?

[gitmo]

He couldn't find a milder way of making his point?

[PsyOp]

Sounds like the chambered round failed to extract when he pulled the slide back. I've seen this happen before. When that happens, releasing the slide will often discharge the weapon.

The real question is why he didn't safely clear the weapon before entering the class, and why he didn't opt to use "snap-caps" (commercially available dummy ammo)for his demonstration. I always use them when teaching anyone about gun safety.

[archy]

Thank you, thank you vurrrrymuch...

[mississippi red-neck]

You have to watch them semi-auto's Sometimes you get a broken extractor, weak extractor spring, or the slide not going into full lockup [dirty] so that the extractor does not engage the rim of the cartridge thereby leaving the round in the chamber.

That's why you always look and if possible feel. he should have done this himself instead before aksing someone else. He should have kept his finger off the trigger also, although a piece of foreign matter could have caused the gun to fire as the slide returned. You should also always be sure never to point a loaded or unloaded gun at anything that you do not want shot including your own body parts.

[mississippi red-neck]

Quick call Arlen Specter!! He's been chasing that damn magic bullet for 50 years!

[mississippi red-neck]

10. Depress trigger, if a mistake has been made the round will go off in a safe direction. 11. Retrieve live round from the floor.

If #10 Occurs go to number # 12. Change underware and clean up #2.

[ahadams2]

yes, thankyou - I stand corrected! my goof!

[ahadams2]

Yes, I'm aware of that...sorry I should have been more specific.

[Delta 21]

I was quite partial to my issued 1911A1 and am to this day dumbfounded in the number of people that can not grasp its ease of operation. The more convoluted John Brownings design gets, the more college edgumacated idjets got to have the latest and greatest state of the art bang bang.

I have a P-35 Hi-Power and have taken guff for owning a 9mm for 20 years, but its never been declined when offered to anyone else to pop off a few mags with it, and its allways returned with very high praise.

As for wheel guns I will stick to my Dan Wesson. But I also have a personal friend who had an accidental discharge (watch out that trigger is touchy!.....sumpthin about not putting your finger there unless you want it go bang...)with a single action Ruger Blackhawk so you have to be thinking about #107 at all times.

[no more apples]

Yea, my husband expalined it all to me! Sorry for my error.

[zoyd]

It's a good thing he wasn't teaching the class on 'flashbang grenade safety'.

[Lawgvr1955]

I hope he had the decency to kick in his own door first.

Great line!!!

[archy]

It's a good thing he wasn't teaching the class on 'flashbang grenade safety'.

Well, the good news is that maybe he'll be eased out of DEA and into some other FedGov agency.

The bad news is that it'll probably be a Department of Energy nuclear devices transfer team....

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