Woman Killed When Police Officer’s Gun Goes Off During Embrace - Polidicks

Any chance of mechanical failure?

I'm curious as to how the gun was holstered in such a way that it discharging would land a bullet into this woman that fatally wounded her. Also, the thing that arouses my suspicion is that this guy has a wife, and is getting hugged from behind by a woman he supposedly doesn't know? My mind seems to think he was actually dancing with this girl full on, and the dancing they were doing caused the gun to fire off, but the officer didn't want to explain how the gun really fired because that would entail explaining the extent of their dancing. Hence this sketchy story missing many details. [editline]9th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=asteroidrules;36695349][url=http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Off-duty-Detroit-police-officer-s-gun-goes-off-kills-woman/-/1719418/15442732/-/hav3lz/-/index.html]My local news just ran this story,[/url] they showed images of the holster, it was neoprene, really flimsy, I wouldn't be surprised if she did accidentally trigger it through the holster.[/QUOTE] Not impossible, but to be able to "brush" the trigger hard enough, even through relatively flimsy neoprene would be pretty hard unintentionally. It would take a pretty specific movement to engage the trigger, and I can't imagine that being likely. Mostly because of the existence of the trigger guard(meant to avoid situations like this) it seems unlikely. In order to get enough leverage to be able to brush the trigger the finger would have to begin the slight brush from inside the trigger guard, hard to do it sliding by the side. further questions; how was she shot in the chest from a gun at waist height in a holster? only way i could see that is that she was really low, but if she was just hugging him why would she be that low?

[QUOTE=Leo Leonardo;36695322]It's hard to carry a gun for self defense when it's not actually on your person. You've seen the stories about shootings erupting at parties. Surely if the officer was armed during one of those scenarios he would have a much better chance at protecting the attendants than if he wasn't carrying. There's no reason not to carry at the party.[/QUOTE] If someone is going to a party where he thinks it's so dangerous he feels he needs to carry a gun, maybe he can find something better to do with his time. Or he can be Mr. Tough Guy and take his gun to the party. Not only that, but it undercuts any claim to be 'protective' if someone can fire your gun without even taking it from you first. Still, this all could have been avoided had she simply kept her hands to herself.

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;36696870]If someone is going to a party where he thinks it's so dangerous he feels he needs to carry a gun, maybe he can find something better to do with his time. Or he can be Mr. Tough Guy and take his gun to the party. Not only that, but it undercuts any claim to be 'protective' if someone can fire your gun without even taking it from you first. Still, this all could have been avoided had she simply kept her hands to herself.[/QUOTE] Two things: 1. He was a cop, they're supposed to carry weapons at all times. 2. This is Detroit we're talking about.

[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36696969]Two things: 1.[B] He was a cop, they're supposed to carry weapons at all times.[/B] 2. This is Detroit we're talking about.[/QUOTE] Off duty cops don't, that's even in the story dude

[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36696969]Two things: 1. He was a cop, they're supposed to carry weapons at all times. 2. This is Detroit we're talking about.[/QUOTE] Ninth sentence from the top. [quote]Police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens said officers have the option of carrying a gun off-duty but there is no requirement for them to be armed.[/quote]

[QUOTE=babyarm-bat;36697139]Off duty cops don't, that's even in the story dude[/QUOTE] It says they have the option to carry their weapons off-duty, they're allowed to go unarmed, but it's typically discouraged.

My city just keeps getting worse and worse, it's a shame :/

[QUOTE=luverofJ!93;36695877] further questions; how was she shot in the chest from a gun at waist height in a holster? only way i could see that is that she was really low, but if she was just hugging him why would she be that low?[/QUOTE] This is the part that bothers me.

[QUOTE=luverofJ!93;36695877]further questions; how was she shot in the chest from a gun at waist height in a holster? only way i could see that is that she was really low, but if she was just hugging him why would she be that low?[/QUOTE] If we assume she fired the weapon when grabbing him, I think we can assume there's a possibility that she somehow snagged the trigger. During this snag all it would take is her tugging on it to twist it around, her bad luck is that it pointed at her chest. If people are dancing and moving around it wouldn't take much more than a second to jostle that holster around in all kinds of directions.

[QUOTE=asteroidrules;36695349][url=http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Off-duty-Detroit-police-officer-s-gun-goes-off-kills-woman/-/1719418/15442732/-/hav3lz/-/index.html]My local news just ran this story,[/url] they showed images of the holster, it was neoprene, really flimsy, I wouldn't be surprised if she did accidentally trigger it through the holster.[/QUOTE] This is the reason why it went off. Those cheap uncle mike's one size fits all cloth holsters are terrible. They're just not safe at all. I would only trust a gun that had a flip safety with them. (Barely) [QUOTE=UncleJimmema;36691065]It must have been one hell of a hug, those S&W's have a pretty hefty trigger pull along with a glock style trigger safety. The Sigma and M&P series pistols don't have flip safeties, only glock style trigger safeties.[/QUOTE] They do make a separate model with flip safeties. I use to have a M&P .40C with a flip safety.

[QUOTE=Sottalytober;36693729]Possible she knocked the gun in just the right way for the firing pin to slap the bullet?[/QUOTE] no, the drop safety would have taken care of that kind of issue

[QUOTE=ShotgunDude;36697846]This is the reason why it went off. Those cheap uncle mike's one size fits all cloth holsters are terrible. They're just not safe at all. I would only trust a gun that had a flip safety with them. (Barely)[/QUOTE] There is a reason most police companies have had their holsters changed from a one size fits all. The flimsy cloth holsters don't protect the user at all. He's luck he never got shot through his own leg.

[QUOTE=Zambies!;36690629]He should get manslaughter. Leaving a loaded and ready pistol is reckless and terrible. [sub][sub][sub][sub][i]Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?[/i][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/QUOTE] Dude everyone who has a CHL carries one with one in the chamber. It is pointless to not have it ready to go, hell I carry with 17+1 in the chamber. Believe it or not, mechanical failures can happen and freak accidents to occur. The holster a person uses and the position in it really does matter. Some holsters don't have trigger guards so they are open and simply "carry" the gun. Others completely holster the gun and protect it from other people and the user. Hell some holsters have locking mechanism that only release the gun when proper holster/upholstering takes place. A random person can't fight the person and take the gun, the holster will not release. On a side note, that has to be the shittiest feeling in the world to know your gun went off and killed someone like that.

[QUOTE=ratman_122;36690770]It isn't if you do it right. In the event you need to actually use the gun, you might not have time to flip the safety off. That split second could be the difference between life and death (especially in a city like Detroit). That's why many police officers use Glocks with double action triggers that count as a safety and a trigger in one motion. If that's what this guy had, then she must have been some kind of contortionist to be able to hug him while getting her finger to pull both triggers.[/QUOTE] Officers use glocks because they are cheap and reasonably reliable for the price. Flipping the safety or slide lock off is part of the motion of drawing the weapon and consumes no additional time. Still trying to work out the mechanics of how a weapon pointing down would have killed the woman. You'd have to nail the femoral in order to manage that, but that would need to be a really odd hug. [editline]9th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=babyarm-bat;36697139]Off duty cops don't, that's even in the story dude[/QUOTE] Off duty cops are still cops inside their jurisdiction. They are bound by law to, within reason, continue to enforce the law when off duty. Officers carrying firearms is so common and generally accepted that there is a federal law compelling all states to permit off duty and retired officers to carry a concealed firearm. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Enforcement_Officers_Safety_Act[/url]

Some of you people in this thread have [B]no[/B] idea how firearms work. The M&P comes as default with only a trigger safety. Unless you order the model with an external, manual safety then there is nothing you switch on or off. And seriously, has nobody heard of concealed carry?

He was probably Max Payne. Max is notoriously bad with women.