Police Officer Mistakenly Fires Rifle In Court
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 6 months ago
A police officer mistakenly fired his rifle Wednesday morning while in court in front of the judge.
A Miami-Dade Police Officer, according to police, was demonstrating a scenario to a judge on the 30th floor of the Lawson E. Thomas Court House around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
After demonstrating, police say the officer mistakenly fired one shot from his police issued rifle, an AR-15.
The bullet hit the floor and there were no injuries.
Hey folks, forget what I’ve said about trigger discipline. Remember that cops are highly trained, and are the only ones who can be trusted to own and use weapons.
On June 18, 2014 at 9:30 pm, SteveP said:
Never mind trigger discipline. Why was there ammunition in the gun? Or even in the room?
Anyone competent to handle the rifle would have cleared it before taking it into the courtroom, and then again when he picked it up for the demonstration.
On June 18, 2014 at 9:44 pm, gastorgrab said:
Shouldn’t the bailiffs have at least asked for the officers weapons? Are they solely responsible for security in the courtroom?
And shouldn’t the judge have known this?
On June 18, 2014 at 9:47 pm, Chuck Pelto said:
Are they ALL idiots?
On June 18, 2014 at 10:15 pm, Casey said:
Is this a trick question? :)
On June 19, 2014 at 6:04 am, Chuck Pelto said:
No. It’s rhetorical.
On June 18, 2014 at 9:46 pm, Chuck Pelto said:
RE: Why Indeed!
EVERY TIME you pick up a firearm you check if it’s LOADED!
On June 18, 2014 at 10:19 pm, StevenDB said:
But even if it isn’t, you treat it like it was.
On June 19, 2014 at 6:04 am, Chuck Pelto said:
At least he shot the floor…..
On June 19, 2014 at 7:59 am, zmortis said:
He didn’t fail on both trigger and muzzle discipline at the same time. Got lucky this time it seems.
On June 18, 2014 at 9:40 pm, LeLeMans said:
But remember, only police can be trusted with guns.
On June 18, 2014 at 10:02 pm, rusty_armor said:
Shouldn’t he be ticketed for an unauthorized discharge of a firearm inside the city limits of Miami?
On June 18, 2014 at 11:20 pm, The Masked Avatar said:
Were any lawyers hit? No? Bummer.
On June 23, 2014 at 5:34 pm, chrismalllory said:
The lawyers who cause the problems are employed by the government.
On June 18, 2014 at 11:40 pm, dave72 said:
DUH!
On June 19, 2014 at 10:29 am, Jack Sheet said:
Why were live rounds anywhere near the rifle?
Then why was his finger near the trigger inside a courtroom?
All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.
On June 19, 2014 at 10:44 am, Herschel Smith said:
Things that do religiously every time I’m near a gun. But then, I’m not “highly trained” like cops.
On June 19, 2014 at 1:48 pm, earthtone55 said:
The question is, why wasn’t this idiot immediately fired, and immediately charged with criminally negligent discharge of a weapon? The fact is, ANYONE ELSE who did what he did would have been.
On June 23, 2014 at 1:32 pm, Richard said:
Yet another example of
utter negligence from the police! It is by chance that the bullet hit the floor. I don’t agree it was the sole
responsibility of the bailiffs to ask every officer for their weapons! The
officer who was giving the demonstration should have checked whether his rifle
was loaded or not before entering the courtroom.
On June 23, 2014 at 5:35 pm, chrismalllory said:
Another example of why it is well past time to start disarming government employees.