Officer and accidental discharge

[cybordolphin]

Feel kinda bad for the guy.

This is what happened.

Around 1:00 am.... police arrived at scene to investigate a call received from out of town visitors regarding a bear intrusion. Bear as in "black bear".

Apparently a visitor to the mountain community where I live called 911 swearing that they had seen a bear in their condo!

In the area where this occurred the police are called out often due to encounters with bear. The town has a lot of bear activity.

2 officers arrived at the scene with a Sergeant. One carrying a non lethal shotgun, one carrying a lethal shotgun and the Sergeant carrying an AR with silencer.

Not sure if any of these weapons would be appropriate for taking down a bear.

While working to evacuate the bear from the visitors condo, the officer with the lethal shotgun experienced an accidental discharge. A witness was within 15 ft but was not injured.

The officers denied there was a discharge. The officers stated the sound heard was from a "flashbang", used to scare off any bear that might have been at the scene.

As it turns out.... there was no bear. The visitors being from the city were apparently just spooked being up in a wilderness area.

So.... no bear. No flashbang would have been needed.

Sergeant comes clean and advises the shot heard was in fact an accidental discharge. And not a flashbang.

I guess the officers were just covering for each other.

Bottom line is.... will this poor guy lose his job as a police officer? What kind of investigations come into play? Internal affairs, etc.?

I feel bad for the guy. Don't like the fact that the officers lied about what happened. Glad the Sergeant came clean......

I am just curious.... if an officer would lose his job over something like this? And how much ridicule will the officer have to endure from his fellow officers (Barney Fife jokes.... don't give him a bullet)?

If I was the officer.... I would not want to find my face in the local newspaper for something like that... and so the whole incident has been kept pretty low key, as to not draw any town attention to the matter. No newspapers called, etc..

Just curious what the officer can expect after something like this.

[yzErnie]

In cop work there is a HUGE difference between an accidental discharge and a negligent discharge. To make an accurate determination of the situation I'd have to know why the gun discharged....meaning what happened immediately before the discharge.

[TRICKSTER]

In my old agency, if you owned up to it , you would get some discipline and retraining. If you lied about it, you would be fired.

[BigDogatPlay]

In my old agency, if you owned up to it , you would get some discipline and retraining. If you lied about it, you would be fired.

+1

Who did the officers and the sergeant deny that there was a discharge to? Members of the public, or the watch commander when he / she showed up? If they denied it to the boss and later changed their story, they have a problem. No one hurt = good. Being less than forthcoming concerning discharge of a firearm on duty = bad.

Either way, the rest of the boys and girls back at the office will almost certainly have some fun with them.

As above... not enough here to know whether anyone was negligent or if it was an inadvertent / accidental discharge.

[bjl333]

I hope they give 'em another chance! I also hope the officer learned from this and not lie again ....

[Falconis]

How about this, hold everyone to the same standard. Why should you as an ordinary citizen be able to be held to a lower standard during a like scenario and skirt away in the night like a little rat.

Also, before calling for everyone's head in a picnic basket (Yogi Bear Reference anyone), how about holding off till the full story is told. The above is not the full story. It may be the entire story the OP has at his disposal, but definitely not the whole story.

BTW, with most agencies, there is a saying, you lie, you die. As in your career comes to an end. There is only one officer I know of who works for Pleasanton PD who lied on the stand and actually got rewarded for it (no real cop I have ever met likes him either). Every other story I have ever heard was the officer could have been saved, except he lied about it. Officers who lie are usually dealt with appropriately and their careers are put 6 feet under. This goes nationwide if they try to apply in another state.

BTW, I have also seen civilians get away with a slap on the wrist. If you're gonna come here screaming for the blood, career, and livlihoods of cops Nok, atleast have some solid facts with you instead of just a rant.

[Ron-Solo]

What would happen to a civilian with CCW or a Private Security with Firearms if they did this? Not to mention lie about it. Police officers need to be held to a higher standard and held accountable for their actions. Since they lied all officers involved should be fired no exceptions. Anyone else would lose their permits and more than likely be heading to jail! I'm sick and tired of all this "retrain" bull****.

Seriously? You have no clue, and are new to this forum, so I'll be gentle. Telling bystanders that "nothing happened" is harmless and prevents needless concern among those who have no involvement in the incident. You have no facts to support the officers lied about anything to their department, so I suggest you cool your jets a little.

Firing people because they told bystanders that nothing happened......you are way off base sir.

Also, this is the Law Enforcement Forum, not the "Off Topic" lounge. You might want to familiarize yourself with the rules of this forum, before the mods get involved.

[Falconis]

I see where the donkey was made. It wasn't with us

[yzErnie]

However if any part of the story is true in regards to the lying that all I have a problem with,

I think we who visit here will agree with that. Departing from the truth is unacceptable and there are very harsh penalties for that.

[r3dn3ck]

it's not that a cop lied, it would appear that as many as 3 of them conspired to lie, then perfected the offense by actually lying, then openly admitted as much. It's not just a lie, it's a willingness to shield each other from wrongdoing in a wrong way that everyone is pissed about.

if any part of that is true then all 3 should get the axe. No more crooked cops. They give the good and honest ones a bad name. And sorry, cops are wanting all sorts of latitude to be cops, then suck it up and take the higher level of scrutiny and more severe repercussions for your actions with it. No free lunch.

[003]

Wow - - more cop bashing. Keep in mind there is a very big difference between lying in their official capacity and/or a Department investigation and making a casual comment to a citizen in the field. If an officer had a negligent discharge he most certainly should be held accountable, but it is not reasonable for some of the folks here to believe they have a right to determine that all of the officers present should be summarily fired. Where did this hatred of the police come from? There is no doubt in my mind that the involved officer was held accountable by his chain of command.

Even based on the limited “facts” outlined here, since the on scene Sergeant knew what had occurred there was no “conspiracy” to lie in any official capacity and I suspect the Department brass was informed of the incident in a timely manner.


If an officer was fired every time some yahoo called for his firing, we would have no police officers. Take a step back and catch your breath. The situation as described was certainly embarrassing but it appears little or no damage was done. So perhaps a bit of remedial training is in order.

[oddjob]

If he/she lied to just the non-LEO folks at the scene I doubt anything will happen to the officer for the lying. I used to lie to non-sworn folks all the time. I have told people "he might have a chance at the hospital" knowing full well he was going to be room temperature at any moment. Big difference here!! (long the AD wasn't into a residence or private property like a car)

If the officer lies to the Watch Commander or I.A. its a different ball game.

Ridicule.....Oh yeah.....We had a guy accidentally shoot himself in the foot. After the hospital cut off the boot the fellow LEO's washed it, spray painted it gold, and hanged it up in the office...like a baby's first pair of shoes.

Newspaper articles....small town paper....Maybe...Large metro newspaper...no

Disciplinary action for the discharge itself....Depending on the agency, but....Yes...It will be something.....letter and remedial training....My old agency was a day off without pay, letter and training for the first AD.

[its mcgavin son]

There's no such thing as an "accidental" discharge.

[cindynles]

There's no such thing as an "accidental" discharge.

Well......you can have an "accidental" discharge when the firearm has a mechancial malfunction (like a stuck firing pin on an SKS, or a safety causing the hammer to drop when disengaged), but having your booger hook on the bang switch is not accidental.

We don't have the full story here, but 99% of unintended discharges are "operator error". Since no one was hurt it is safe to assume the weapon was pointed in a safe direction (so he was following most of the 4 rules). Everyone makes mistakes and in the grand view of things this should not be a career killer.

[Falconis]

redneck, you are drawing all sort of inferences and conclusions where there aren't any. take a break dude.