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.

[Blood of Tyrants]

A friend of mine shot a hole in his wall when he removed the mag from his pistol, racked the slide twice then pulled the trigger as he pointed it in a "safe" direction. He never forgot that lesson.

[Dan from Michigan]

I'm a total ignoramus about guns (only ever been shooting once, and that was with a friend's .38 revolver), so help me here...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?

It all depends on the gun, but
1. Depends how he was pointing the gun. He should have looked and put his finger in the chamber to make sure.

2. Probably not, but I'd REALLY like to know where his index finger was.........my guess is it was on the trigger.

[beelzepug]

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

Just a trial run - give him time.

[BurbankKarl]

there was an Orange County Sheriff Firearms Instructor that shot someone else on the range!

they need to send the clowns through the NRA range course....after they graduate their LE courses

[looscnnn]

Yeah, what happened to the zero tolerance gun free zone?

[JoeSixPack1]

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

Maybe the moron didn't pull the slide back far enough and with suffcient force to eject the round. He was more interested in 'show & tell" then a clear weapon.

[snowtigger]

How can something this funny be so sad at the same time. Anything bad happening to a DEA dumbass is automatically funny.

The sad thing is this has probably turned lots of these kids against guns. This will be used to show them that even with a "trained person" guns are too dangerous to have around.

Someone isn't telling the whole truth here. IF the magazine was removed, and the slide racked. this firearm could not fire.

[arm958]

When my dad was in basic training the Drill Sgt. put an M-14 up to his chin to prove that it didn't have much of a recoil. He had done it several times before but this time he broke his jaw.

When I was in basic, our drill sergeant put the butt of an M-16 up to his crotch and fired off a few rounds to emphasize the light recoil. Fortunately, he didn't have the groin equivalent of a broken jaw.

[beelzepug]

"Maybe the DEA should change their name..."

Aren't these the guys who have to have 8-inch-high bright yellow letters on the backs of their jackets so they won't shoot EACH OTHER?

[Lurker]

1.) Yes

2.) No

3.) Yes, you're still allowed here, but only temporarily. Now get thee to a gun store and buy something that goes 'Bang'.

L

[Joe Brower]

We aren't getting the whole story here (big surprise). Note how one of the anointed obviously was on school grounds with a loaded gun. Not something one of us "lowlies" want to try.

And chalk up another stellar example of the so-called "trained firearms professional", who manages to break the rules and wound himself in the process, right in front of the public who holds him in esteem.

Pretty damned pathetic.

[looscnnn]

No it wasn't, being that stupid he should not be allowed to breed. "Missed it by that much".

[TC Rider]

Let me guess that Eddie Eagle has not shot himself in class yet.

[Born Conservative]

JD Ping.

[The Toad]

He must have had a round "in the pipe" (ie in the chamber). Simply remvoing the magazine does not necessarly mean the weapon is completely unloaded.

The guy broke Rule #1: A gun should be considered to always be loaded.

[20yearvet]

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.

1st thing wrong, He did not check himself to make sure it was unloaded.
2nd thing wrong, He took someones word that the gun was empty.
3ed thing wrong, He did not keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

If you do not pull the slide far enough back it may not eject the round. Asking someone in a class (a class of people who do not know what they are looking for) is dumb. You always check it yourself, even if the other person has just check it. even after you KNOW its empty you still treat it like its loaded.

[jackbill]

Not a good career move, I would think.

[The kings dead]

I think the Darwin is given posthumously

Wouldn't he also be eligible if he rendered himself unable to reproduce? (Sounds like he came close.)

[biblewonk]

All our range sgt. did was shoot through an ammo box with an m16. Not very impressive.

[looscnnn]

Yes, but the big yellow letters does nothing to keep them from shooting themselves.