cuchulainn
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Is it just me, or does something smell a tad fishy about this?
From the Harford Journal Inquirer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7018155&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6
From the Harford Journal Inquirer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7018155&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6
Bushnell mishap prompts legislator to seek gun curb
February 11, 2003
HARTFORD - A Democratic state legislator is calling on police to leave weapons at home when attending crowded theatrical productions or concerts after a gun worn by an off-duty state Capitol police officer accidentally went off during intermission at the Bushnell Theater on Sunday.
Rep. Annette W. Carter, D-Hartford, the party's assistant majority whip, also said today that she will consider legislation to bar off-duty police from carrying weapons when they attend crowded events, a measure that is likely to draw strong opposition from law-enforcement agencies and groups supporting the right to bear arms.
Carter said she will research the legality of such a bill and plans to talk with police in coming weeks in preparation for drafting it.
On Sunday, a gun belonging to Senior Officer Paul Warren of the Capitol police accidentally went off during intermission of "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" starring Valerie Harper. The gun discharged when he went to sit in his seat just before the end of intermission at about 3:45 p.m., police said.
Carter, who serves on the General Assembly's Public Safety Committee, said Warren was lucky neither he nor other theater patrons were hurt.
"We didn't foresee anything like this happening, otherwise we would have done something about it long ago," Carter said. "When you're in close quarters like that, it's surprising that he didn't think of the public's safety first. We need to look at a bill that would cover that.
"For now, I'm going to be talking to officers to see what could be done to protect the public, because this should not happen," she added.
Lt. Paul B. Hammick of the Hartford Police Major Crimes Unit said off-duty police often carry personal or work-issued weapons specifically to assist in any emergency.
Should lawmakers craft a bill limiting that, "I think it would come up against some pretty tough competition with the" National Rifle Association, he said.
No criminal charges against Warren, 47, are likely as he was within his rights to bring his gun into the theater, Hartford police spokeswoman Sgt. Maura Hammick, who also is the wife of the lieutenant, said Monday.
All investigative reports by the Hartford police have been sent to the Capitol police for their internal review, Sgt. Hammick added, but the incident was an "accident, pure and simple," she said.
Chief Bill Morgan of Capitol police declined to comment about the incident or the officer involved.
Theater patrons were evacuated Sunday as police searched the theater. They were allowed back in after about 45 minutes, and the show went on.
Today, all events at the theater were cancelled without expla-nation.
The gun - a .380-caliber Browning semi-automatic handgun - was in Warren's shoulder holster when it went off as he and his wife were returning to their seats at the end of intermission, according to a police report and witnesses.
Warren told city police that the gun, which was not his service weapon, fired one shot as he sat down.
Police said the bullet ripped through Warren's sweater without hitting him, went through his seat, hit the floor and smashed into fragments. One of the metal pieces bounced down the aisle and hit Mary MacMullen, 46, of Enfield.
"It felt like a needle sticking me," said MacMullen, who suffered a red blister on her leg from the bullet fragment but did not require medical attention. "All of a sudden I heard this loud bang and then something hits me in the back of the leg. It was outrageous."
Investigators are trying to deter-mine if the gun was in its safety position, which should have prevented it from firing.
Other police officers say gun safety devices occasionally can slip, resulting in accidental firings.
The State Capitol Police was created by the General Assembly in 1974, and until it was reorganized in 1996, the Connecticut State Police supervised the department. It is now an independent police department with statewide juris-diction.
The main responsibility of the Capitol police is to protect members of the state legislature, constitutional offices, and visitors at the Capitol. The department patrols the 17-acre complex that includes the Capitol, the legislative office building, and adjacent parking garage.
Warren has been a Capitol police officer for 16 years, 3 months, and is paid $59,327 a year.
The Capitol police Web page shows that Warren received a letter of commendation from the chief in May 2000. The reason for the commendation could not be immediately determined.
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