Montgomery Police Officer Uses His Gun To Smash Car Window Shooting The Unarmed Driver Inside
BY Herschel Smith
6 years, 10 months ago
A veteran police officer who used his gun to try to smash a window wound up shooting an unarmed driver in a Montgomery County parking lot when the weapon accidentally went off, police officials said Tuesday.
The driver survived the Nov. 5 shooting.
The officer, Todd Archer, will not be criminally charged, according to authorities, but he remains under administrative investigation by the Montgomery Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division.
“Questions remain as to why a firearm was used to try to break the glass, and why the firearm discharged,” the Montgomery department said in a statement.
Archer, who has been an officer for 10 years with the Montgomery force, remains on paid administrative leave. Officials have not identified the man who was shot. They are arranging to have him, his family and their representatives view a video recording of the shooting captured by Archer’s body-worn camera.
Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger has reviewed the video. “I don’t believe the officer intended to shoot this man,” Manger said, but added that “a number of questions remain about what happened.”
Morgan Blackledge, an attorney for Archer, said her client rendered aid to the SUV driver immediately after the gunshot. But she declined Tuesday to speak in detail about the case until the administrative investigation is complete.
“All I can say is that Officer Archer is a dedicated member of the Montgomery County Police Department and will continue to serve the citizens of Montgomery County,” Blackledge said.
Chuck Drago, a national expert on police use of force, said that, in general, officers should not use guns to smash windows.
“A gun isn’t a tool for hitting or banging or ramming. It’s designed for one thing, to shoot a bullet,” he said.
One particular concern, he said, is that when someone uses a gun to strike something, there is a reflexive reaction: “You tend to clench your fist, which includes your trigger finger,” Drago said.
Hmm … an expert on the use of police force. Expert. I’m glad they could find a self proclaimed expert on the use of police force to tell them that this was stupid. And I’m glad they could find someone to tell them about sympathetic muscle reflexes. It’s a shame no one else has ever said anything about this before.
What the hell was this guy doing beating on a window to begin with? The glass could break and blind the person inside. If he was going to beat on the window, what the hell was he doing using his gun for this task?
Well, at least the dedicated and highly trained cop won’t lose his job. We’d hate to have to replace someone so qualified as him.
On January 9, 2018 at 11:54 pm, J said:
“The officer, Todd Archer, will not be criminally charged”
Are you FKM?
Had this been a civi…
The Civi,(place name)will be criminally charged
What a bunch of BS! They really are asking for it
On January 10, 2018 at 2:19 am, Nosmo said:
It’s been well documented that requesting police come to your address is a poor move for personal safety reasons, and one that will place you and your family – and especially your dog – in jeopardy.
Apparently, it’s just as hazardous to just be around police anytime.
On January 10, 2018 at 3:00 am, Ned said:
“All I can say is that Officer Archer is a dedicated member of the Montgomery County Police Department and will continue to serve the citizens of Montgomery County…”
Careful out there, or you may find Office Archer has protected and served the shit outta ya…
On January 10, 2018 at 9:50 am, Fred said:
“Questions remain as to why a firearm was used [because the guy is a retard] to try to break the glass, and why the firearm discharged [because the pin struck the primer],”
There, now your ‘internal investigation’ has some clues, ugh.
On January 10, 2018 at 10:45 am, Herschel Smith said:
@Fred,
It’s good that he had all of that super Ninja warrior stress control training that cops go through. Otherwise, it might have been worse. He might have shot himself.
On January 10, 2018 at 12:45 pm, Fred said:
Herschel,
Good point but I was thinking about this report. How does an adult lock oneself into a vehicle that would require the po-po to break the glass? Since the name of the vehicle occupant has yet to be released my guess that ‘they’ are delaying the release of the name and other info because it was an INFANT/YOUNG CHILD or other person of need that can’t unlock a door.
So, I’m guessing here, that it will come out that this assclown shot a little baby to save it from itself. Protected and served, next!
On January 10, 2018 at 2:43 pm, Michael said:
“The glass could break and blind the person inside.”
While I agree with you, Hershchel, I am 99.999% sure the cop couldn’t care less. Blind or not, maimed or not, the cop was “protecting and serving” as usual.
On January 10, 2018 at 4:06 pm, Randolph Scott said:
Every single day the total ignorance and ineptness of this country’s police force is put on display for all to see. The cops show the whole world how fucking stupid and worthless they really are.
On January 11, 2018 at 9:27 am, Chris Mallory said:
We had a police chief that got fired after he used the butt of his pistol to break out the window of a motel room so the SWAT team could throw in a flashbang. The room contained a suspected armed robber who had committed his crime several days earlier. But for some reason they couldn’t wait at the stairwell for the guy to check out.
The chief had gotten on the bad side of the local badged parasite union. So the cops charged that the chief had endangered them.
On January 11, 2018 at 4:23 pm, June said:
Cops apparently substitute hollyweird movies for real training. Only in a hollyweird movie would you see someone using a pistol to break out a car window.