A police commander at the scene said officers tried to arrest an armed man when his weapon fell and went off.
An officer on a bullhorn was seen asking people to disperse and at least one person was pepper sprayed.
I saw the close in on that revolver on FOX as the Officer was standing over it.
It appeared to be a single action, of the basic M-1873 type, with a flat top strap and target sights - possibly a Ruger although they have been made my a zillion replica and knock off producers.
About a 7.5” barrel, fluted cylinders, possibly a .357 but it’s hard to tell.
Single actions are notorious for the way they are balanced; when dropped they almost invariably roll and land on the hammer spur, and unless equipped with a modern firing pin block safety device they will, if a loaded round is under the firing pin, go off.
So many Cowboys shot themselves with their own revolvers when they jounced out of the holster that they took to loading “five beans in the wheel” leaving the hammer down on an empty chamber.
They would only top it off if they knew they were about to get into a gun fight.
I suspect that the perp dropped his piece when he saw the cop had the drop on him or was tazed; it landed on the hammer on the pavement and discharged.
Probably the only round fired in this affair.
Bullet probably went up at about a 40 degree angle and hopefully landed a couple of miles away harmlessly.
It may have tagged the perp in the leg or butt (where they usually get you when you drop a SA) or it may have just nicked him.
It will probably take a few days for the truth to out... if it ever does.
I don’t think the police are going to be “gunning” any Black yutes “down” any time soon if they can possibly avoid it.