Firearms lesson No. 1: Gun isn't a hammer:
PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette
DATE: 2004.01.13
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A7
BYLINE: SIDHARTHA BANERJEE
SOURCE: The Gazette
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Firearms lesson No. 1: Gun isn't a hammer: Officer's pistol fired when he hit window
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A Montreal police officer who used his service pistol to smash a car window probably caused it to accidentally discharge, an internal investigation by the force shows.
Police don't believe there was anything wrong with the service weapon, the new semi-automatic 9-millimetre Walther P99 Quick Action pistol Montreal police officers use.
"An expert is looking at the weapon, but we don't have the results yet," said Commander Pierre Cadieux, head of the Montreal police media-relations department. "But we don't think the gun was at fault."
Officers were attempting to nab a car thief who had escaped from a drug-rehabilitation centre and was under the influence of drugs.
When officers went to talk to the driver of the vehicle, Cadieux said, the thief locked the vehicle's automatic doors. Police ordered him to open the door but, instead, he put the car in drive. One of the officers then used a service revolver to smash the driver's side window.
"When he smashed the window, the gun went off," Cadieux said. "We don't know is whether the gun went off after the smashing motion or whether the trigger was pulled."
The weapon jammed after the shot was fired, Cadieux said.
The arrested man wasn't seriously injured and the officer suffered a sprained wrist.
Cadieux said the incident, which occurred two days before Christmas, was extremely rare.
"In extreme emergency cases, officers may use their weapon in that way (and it may be justified), but it's not something we usually do," he said.
According to the latest available data, Montreal police officers only fired a total of 25 shots in all of 2002. Of those, 13 shots were fired at a suspect or at an escaper in a moving car.
Montreal officers started switching to the Walther P99 QA from their old .357-calibre revolvers in April 2002, one of the last police forces in North America to change from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols. It will be at least another year before all officers have the new firearm.
Each officer gets two days of training on firing and safe loading and must pass an exam. Each officer is required to load and discharge their revolver at the end of each shift, as a way of getting more accustomed to the new weapon.
[email protected]
PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette
DATE: 2004.01.13
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A7
BYLINE: SIDHARTHA BANERJEE
SOURCE: The Gazette
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firearms lesson No. 1: Gun isn't a hammer: Officer's pistol fired when he hit window
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Montreal police officer who used his service pistol to smash a car window probably caused it to accidentally discharge, an internal investigation by the force shows.
Police don't believe there was anything wrong with the service weapon, the new semi-automatic 9-millimetre Walther P99 Quick Action pistol Montreal police officers use.
"An expert is looking at the weapon, but we don't have the results yet," said Commander Pierre Cadieux, head of the Montreal police media-relations department. "But we don't think the gun was at fault."
Officers were attempting to nab a car thief who had escaped from a drug-rehabilitation centre and was under the influence of drugs.
When officers went to talk to the driver of the vehicle, Cadieux said, the thief locked the vehicle's automatic doors. Police ordered him to open the door but, instead, he put the car in drive. One of the officers then used a service revolver to smash the driver's side window.
"When he smashed the window, the gun went off," Cadieux said. "We don't know is whether the gun went off after the smashing motion or whether the trigger was pulled."
The weapon jammed after the shot was fired, Cadieux said.
The arrested man wasn't seriously injured and the officer suffered a sprained wrist.
Cadieux said the incident, which occurred two days before Christmas, was extremely rare.
"In extreme emergency cases, officers may use their weapon in that way (and it may be justified), but it's not something we usually do," he said.
According to the latest available data, Montreal police officers only fired a total of 25 shots in all of 2002. Of those, 13 shots were fired at a suspect or at an escaper in a moving car.
Montreal officers started switching to the Walther P99 QA from their old .357-calibre revolvers in April 2002, one of the last police forces in North America to change from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols. It will be at least another year before all officers have the new firearm.
Each officer gets two days of training on firing and safe loading and must pass an exam. Each officer is required to load and discharge their revolver at the end of each shift, as a way of getting more accustomed to the new weapon.
[email protected]
