Posted on 11/20/2002 1:31:41 PM PST by marshmallow
MANATEE COUNTY -- The district commander for the Florida Highway Patrol's Venice office shot himself in the foot with a handgun Monday morning at the Manatee Technical Institute firing range.
Capt. Van Fussell, who is seven months from retirement, was wiggling his toes before the ambulance took him away from the range. The bullet lodged in the sole of his sneaker.
He shot his right foot just above the toes while he was putting his .40-caliber Glock back in its holster, according to Range Master and FHP Trooper A.J. Goodwin.
Fussell, 64, doesn't know where his sneaker went. He said he doesn't remember what he was doing with his gun when he shot his foot.
"It was an accident," Fussell said. "I'm fine. I don't have any problems."
Doctors at Blake Medical Center treated Fussell and sent him home on crutches Monday afternoon.
Fussell has been a Florida Highway Patrol trooper for 30 years. He was taking his biannual firearms qualification exam when he shot himself.
The Glock, Fussell's off-duty weapon, does not have a safety. The FHP's service weapon, the .40-caliber Berretta, does have a safety.
Goodwin said that in the 18 years he's given the exam, today's shooting was the first he'd seen.
"He was doing well," Goodwin said. "Those Glocks are just really tricky."
To qualify, law enforcement officers must shoot seven yards away from a target. They alternate shooting five to 10 shots at a time. Fussell had shot only eight or nine rounds before he began putting his gun away.
Fussell has passed every weapons qualification examination since he became a trooper. He's never fired his weapon at anyone, according to Capt. Carlos Vazquez. The FHP is investigating the shooting, but Vazquez said it appears to have been an accident.
Fussell shot himself before finishing the qualification exam, so he will have to retake it.
He said he doesn't think he'll be out of work for long. As for his retirement, he's considering a move to North Carolina.
Remove finger from trigger guard area before reholstering your firearm.
Yep, that's the negligent discharge that Glocks are notorious for. Last year (or earlier this year, can't recall), there was a thread abou an FBI agent who did the same thing. In that case, the shooter was sitting at a rifle range benchrest and, when holstering the Glock, fired a bullet which passed in and out of his thigh, then in and out of his calf. Two entry wounds, two exit wounds, one bullet. The Flying Fickle (Trigger) Finger of Fate has no mercy.
I and I am sure others here at FR, have pistol loads that will go through that club that he called a foot, bounce off the concrete and then find something else to enter/exit.
damn. ya know, those glocks will just jump out and blow a hole in your foot
if you aim it down there and pull the trigger.
every time.
all those glock switches, controls and such must have confused him.
stupidity, like charlotte speedway, is self cleaning.
shoot fast. shoot straight. shoot safe. practice. carry. molon labe. glock rocks
Yep. Definitely a man's gun; not for the squeamish or fumble-fingered...
...or a tick turd.
They sure are. I've been trying to outsmart mine but the darn thing fires everytime I pull the trigger.
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
I knew that... just makin' a joke.
I grew up, and still live PROUDLY in North Carolina... probably saw every Andy Griffith Show ever, at least once.
:)
FRegards...
Constitution Day
Stay Safe ;o)
It is a very easy error to make with a Glock. Most of the holsters for Glock cover the trigger guard. If you leave your finger on the trigger while pushing the gun into the holster, the holster will shove your finger back into the trigger. The trigger pull is pretty light.
I've been handling Glocks since my first G17 back in 1987. No NDs -- yet! $;-). This bugger was simply careless.
And these are the "professionals" who are the only people the gun-grabbers trust with a firearm. Uh-huh...
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