LEO'S Gun AD's While At Swimming Lesson, Hits Woman - Peekskill, NY

[CT-Mike]

Cop's gun goes off at Peekskill swimming lesson, woman injured | lohud.com | The Journal News

PEEKSKILL - An off-duty New York City police detective's gun accidentally went off yesterday inside Peekskill Middle School and the bullet shattered, with a tiny piece striking a woman by the pool.

The detective and the woman were among about 30 adults and children attending Saturday swimming lessons at the pool. She was treated at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla for a wound in her right leg and released, Peekskill Police Chief Eugene Tumulo said last night.
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"When (the detective) went to pick up his stuff to leave, the gun was on the bench," Tumulo said. "It fell and discharged. It looks like this was an accidental discharge."

No one else was injured, and authorities are investigating the matter. The detective 1st grade, Tumulo said, is a Peekskill resident and the 9 mm semiautomatic handgun is his "assigned weapon." He serves in an undercover role.

Swimming instructor Beth Kear said the man had just finished swimming with his son and was gathering his clothes and other belongings when the gun fell to the tiled floor.

"Everybody was very frightened. He immediately pulled out identification and identified himself as a police officer," Kear said.

One preschool learn-to-swim class was finishing when the gun went off and another one was about to start. The classes are sponsored by the Peekskill Parks and Recreation Department.

Kear said the day's remaining classes were canceled. She said the shell casing settled at her feet in the pool's shallow end.

"We were very, very fortunate," said Kear, who said the man's wife sits with his belongings while he is in the pool. "It was a very unfortunate accident."

Tumulo said the detective was not charged in the matter. Peekskill police and Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore's Public Integrity Bureau are investigating, Tumulo said. He said the New York City Internal Affairs Bureau also looked into the incident.

So what type of 9mm might this officer have been issued that is susceptible to an AD if dropped?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[David in FL]

The BS flag is flying in FL....

[Kerbouchard]

Swimming instructor Beth Kear said the man had just finished swimming with his son and was gathering his clothes and other belongings when the gun fell to the tiled floor.

There was more going on than 'gathering his clothes'...keep your finger and other objects off the trigger. Why wasn't his duty weapon in a holster? Why is this so hard for people to understand?

I guess it's possible that it accidently got knocked off the bench and discharged(I don't buy it, but it's possible), but dropping it in the first place is out of line. Leaving it unattended while swimming while children are running around during a swimming lesson should be a hanging offense.

And lying about it 'dropping' and accidently going off should get him kicked off the force.

Accident's happen, but they tend to favor the unprepared mind.

There are a ton of things this guy could have done to prevent this from happening.

And for when people come to his defense, and tell me I am unforgiving, etc, etc...he still left a police duty/issue side arm unattended while he was off swimming with children around. That is the part that annoys me the most about this.

[retsupt99]

Maybe he should have just shouted "GO!", jumped into the water and started swimming...

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If that happened to anyone else, an arrest would have been made...

[mustang00066]

Reading the story it looks like he has his wife watching his stuff while he swims? I guess that's at least a LITTLE better than just leaving his stuff unattended... if he had one in the chamber and the gun fell on the hammer and the safety was off or something, would this be enough to cause an AD? even if he did have it holstered?

Lucky nobody was hurt worse.

[CT-Mike]

Like David above, I am not totally sure I am believing the detective's story. I would think that leaving a duty weapon in the care of his wife wasn't a very smart decision. I may not know any better, but I would think that if the weapon isn't on me, then it needs to be locked up somewhere secure.

[Stetson]

Sounds like somebody else was involved to me.When stuff like this happens it seems you always get some untruths.I remember working at a PD and and the
Chief dropped his carry piece from an ankle holster.I watched in awe as it bounced down two flights of concrete stairs.When I quizzed the chief he said no way
revolver could discharge.At the time I disagreeded with him and told him we were luckily the hammer didn't get struck because we could of had an ad with
the possibility of getting hit by a stray bullet because of a cheap holster!

[bandit383]

Interesting...I'll wait for more before passing judgement. Lots of things can happen:

1) She moved the clothes to where they are not how they were layed down (by the way, I'm sure she has access at home...so I see little difference)
2) Trigger caught on something
3) Fell on hammer and something failed

To name a few....

Hummm, wonder he was a pilot? (j/k)

Glad no one was seriously harmed.

Rick

[Magilla82ABN]

I am not totally believing the story

[Reborn]

How do you spell lawsuit? AD

[Cupcake]

Maybe he should have just shouted "GO!", jumped into the water and started swimming...

OTOH, He shouldn't be leaving a weapon in someone else's care. I wonder if she has a permit to carry? If not, wouldn't that be a felony?

[Kerbouchard]

Interesting...I'll wait for more before passing judgment. Lots of things can happen:

1) She moved the clothes to where they are not how they were layed down (by the way, I'm sure she has access at home...so I see little difference)

Then he left his duty side arm with somebody who was not responsible enough to handle it. Officer's fault (if we go with your answer of 'she moved the clothes, thus placing an object in the trigger guard)

2) Trigger caught on something

Why wasn't it in a proper holster? Officer's fault.

3) Fell on hammer and something failed

Possible, highly unlikely, but possible. And if it did happen, it was probably a maintenance issue.

Either way, I agree with Retsup. If this had happened to anybody else, they would be awaiting bail.

Let's see...Reckless Endangerment, Illegal transfer of firearm on school property, Reckless Endangerment of child, Reckless discharge of firearm...I'm sure we could think of some others. Not to mention the rules he violated from his precinct.

[JonInNY]

Definition:

AD: verb; Someone pulled the trigger

[P7fanatic]

Interesting...I'll wait for more before passing judgement. Lots of things can happen:

2) Trigger caught on something

Glad no one was seriously harmed.

Rick

Sounds to me like it was probably a Glock but why the heck was the pistol not in a holster, if not locked up?
Stupid, none the less.

[sui-juris]

And for when people come to his defense, and tell me I am unforgiving, etc, etc...he still left a police duty/issue side arm unattended while he was off swimming with children around. That is the part that annoys me the most about this.
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I agree.. AD sure?? Sounds like a real bonehead move.