Posted on 05/07/2008 5:23:02 AM PDT by Abathar
RIVERDALE, Utah - The police chief who shot himself in the ankle was waving a loaded pistol and being careless, according to two students who were attending his class to qualify for a concealed-weapons permit. "We were told the gun is the chief's personal sidearm, but it looked to me like he didn't know anything about the gun," Lewis Walker said.
Bart Ulm, another student seeking certification to carry a concealed weapon, said he was surprised Chief Dave Hansen was using a loaded gun to show how it worked.
"Right then, I was very leery, because there's no need to have live ammo in a gun in the class. But I figured he's the chief, so he must know what he's doing," Ulm told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden.
Hansen held the Glock 40 under a table to disassemble it when a bullet fired, Walker said.
The chief cried, "I'm hit," and fell over. Students who were screaming "Officer down!" were urged to call 911.
The gun went off in a conference room Saturday at Riverdale police headquarters.
Hansen was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden for surgery and released Monday, Lt. James Ebert said.
Ebert said the findings of an internal investigation would be announced Wednesday. He declined to offer specifics but disputed the accounts of Ulm and Walker, describing the pair as "disgruntled."
Other students "did not share that feeling" about the chief, Ebert told The Associated Press.
Walker said he didn't have confidence in the investigation.
"I think Riverdale police are just trying to keep this quiet and act like the chief is a hero. But if you ask me, he's really stupid," Walker said. "His state certification to teach concealed-weapons classes should be taken away from him. This was totally gross negligence."
Ulm said there was a moment of levity during the emergency.
He said an officer at the scene joked that "instead of shooting himself, he should have used the Taser."
*snicker*
“The chief cried, “I’m hit,” and fell over. Students who were screaming “Officer down!” were urged to call 911.”
I also would have fallen over, laughing hysterically.
Damn straight!
I agree with the sentiment that he should have his license to teach concealed carry yanked. “Now class, the first step in disassembling a loaded Glock 40...” MAKE SURE IT’S NOT LOADED!!!
Making sure a firearm is unloaded prior to doing any kind of work on it is right up there with making sure you point the firearm in a safe direction at all times...
This buffoon is certainly not qualified...
Just.....damn!
Administrators who wanna be macho cops, who’d a thought? Why do you think they promote these incompetents; because it makes the streets safer.
I can say with some certainty that He didn't have a clue what he was doing. Im a firearms instructor for my department, as well as a certified armorer on the Glock pistol in question. To disassemble this firearm, the magazine must be removed(always a good start) and then using a two party check the chamber must be verified clear AND empty. Once the weapon is VERIFIED empty, the trigger can be pulled(keeping it pointed in a safe direction i.e. not at YOURSELF) and the pistol disassembled. As My master trainers are fond of saying "you gotta be smarter than the gun you're carrying"
CC
I still remember my first weapons trainning class for the US ARMY. The SGT made up a non existant exotic sounding weapon and asked us what was the first step in its disassembly. None of us knew the answer. So, the SGT told us it was to check if the weapon was loaded and unload the weapon if it was. When someone said he did not think there was such a weapon as mentioned, the SGT said that did not matter. All weapons have the same first step in their disassembly.
Did you mean a two-PART check or a two-PARTY? I ask because I would assume that it is OK to dissassemble and reassemble the pistol while by oneself...
Before you crawl under the car to change the oil, be sure it is not cruising down the highway at 65 MPH...
No CCW permit for you then, Bart.
Ebert said the findings of an internal investigation would be announced Wednesday. He declined to offer specifics but disputed the accounts of Ulm and Walker, describing the pair as "disgruntled."
Yeah, this is the students' fault. </cop logic>
Wow!
The two CHL classes that I have had to take were run by professionals.
I wouldn’t let this doofus house-train our new puppy!
If I'd been in a class where a cop was waving a loaded gun around and caused a negligent discharge, I wouldn't be very gruntled, either.
If you're by yourself, check it twice, using an alias the second time.
Did he think he was in an action movie or something?
He's lucky he didn't kill one of his students with a ricochet.
Clown.
In my department weapons are issued as needed, so a two person check would be a better way of saying it. He could’ve used a student to visually verify if the weapon was empty. The idea is that one person might get it wrong , but two are less likely to.
This story needs more powdered donut.
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