DoubleTapDrew
Member
Sounds like a ND. I'm surprised they actually went to someone knowledgable and got a little lesson on how rifles don't just "go off" and the difference between an AD and ND. Good reporting.
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080207/NEWS0107/802070394/1001&nav_category=
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080207/NEWS0107/802070394/1001&nav_category=
Deputy's rifle discharges into building as he patrols U.S. 97
Deschutes officer put on ‘modified duty’; Sheriff’s Office investigating
By Cindy Powers / The Bulletin
Published: February 07. 2008 4:00AM PST
A Deschutes County sheriff’s patrol deputy of eight years has been placed on “modified duty” after his service rifle discharged as he was driving on U.S. Highway 97 and the bullet hit a building.
Ron Brown’s AR 15 rifle went off just before midnight Tuesday. The round penetrated the front of Wood Monsters, a flooring business in the 20500 block of Robal Road in north Bend.
No one was inside at the time, and no one was injured, said Kevin Taylor, owner of the business.
Sheriff Larry Blanton said he did not have many specifics about the incident.
“(The rifle) was in its holder, but he heard it rattling up there and was trying to put it back,” Blanton said.
He said department policy allows for bullets to be inside the magazine of a rifle in a patrol car, but not in the barrel “unless we are responding to an issue that would necessitate having a bullet in the barrel.”
Blanton said he did not know whether Brown was responding to a call.
Because of an ongoing internal investigation, Blanton said he was limited in what information he could give about the incident.
He did say Brown was on an overtime shift, patrolling for drunken drivers.
The rifle was mounted behind Brown’s head, Blanton said, with the barrel pointing at the driver’s side window. The rifle was mounted in a patrol car assigned to Brown, but other deputies are allowed to use it, Capt. Marc Mills said.
He said deputies are expected to routinely inspect their vehicles and equipment.
The bullet sliced through the vehicle’s roof liner and shot out the left rear window before hitting the building, Blanton said.
Brown could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Blanton said deputies carry the rifles because they need long-range weapons in some tactical situations.
“We have to make sure that we have equal or superior equipment or tools available to us than a suspect may have,” Blanton said.
Officers train with long-range weapons at least two days each year and must be proficient at shooting them at night, Blanton said.
But John Landwer, of Front Sight Firearms Training Institute in Aptos, Calif., said it would be “impossible” for someone following safety protocols to accidentally fire an AR 15.
Landwer said the institute trains an average of 800 to 1,000 people each year on the use of firearms and that the AR 15 is one of the guns they regularly use.
“I’ve loaded an AR 15 probably 2,000 times, and I’ve never had one accidentally go off,” he said.
He said the rifle must first be loaded with a magazine and then cocked to get a bullet into the barrel. Then, Landwer said, a safety lever must be flipped before the weapon will fire.
“If the gun went off and the guy didn’t mean it to then it’s not an accident, it’s negligence,” Landwer said.
In his experience with AR 15s, Landwer added, a shooter must overcome an average of 5 to 8 pounds of trigger resistance before the weapon will fire.
Landwer said one fortunate thing about the situation is that an AR 15 shoots only one round at a time.
But, in his opinion, the position of Brown’s gun was not safe, he said, based on his company’s safety protocols.
“Never point a weapon at anything you don’t want to destroy,” he said.
Blanton said the Sheriff’s Office has not had an incident like this in his nearly 30 years at the department.
He said Brown stopped driving immediately after the weapon went off and called his supervisor, who started an internal investigation into the incident.
The investigation is expected to take a few days, and when it is completed Blanton said he will be able to provide more information about what happened.
Brown has been put on “modified duty assignment,” similar to desk duty, pending the outcome of the investigation, Blanton said.
Taylor, of Wood Monsters, said the bullet that zinged through the upper front of his business is now embedded in a side wall.
“I was surprised when the news started showing up because I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Taylor said.
