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RIVERDALE -- Witnesses to Police Chief Dave Hansen's self-inflicted gunshot wound accuse officials of trying to cover up for the chief through the official version of events released to the news media.
Two West Haven residents attending the concealed weapons permit class Hansen taught Saturday told the Standard-Examiner on Monday that Hansen was extremely careless while handling the loaded Glock 40 pistol before the shooting.
They said police responding to the incident ignored the dozen people at the class until hours later, not even asking if anyone else had been hit by a bullet or shrapnel.
"It's all a bunch of lies, and they're trying to cover up what really happened," said Lewis Walker, who attended the class with his wife and friends.
"The chief's brother (state Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden) was just on TV saying the chief was showing us how to clear a weapon when the gun went off, but that's bull.
"The chief said he was going to show us the rifling in the barrel of the gun, and he was pointing it around at all of us in the class. He was trying to disassemble the gun under the table when it went off.
"Nobody thought anything about the gun being loaded. We were told the gun is the chief's personal sidearm, but it looked to me like he didn't know anything about the gun.
"When the gun went off, we thought it must have been a blank he was using to impress us, but then he hollered, 'I'm hit,' and he fell over and told us to call 911."
Walker said Hansen then placed the smoking gun on the table in front of him with several other guns. Walker, fearing having a loaded gun unattended, said he put the weapon in the hallway outside the room while confusion reigned in the library, where the class was being taught.
Walker's neighbor, Bart Ulm, said he was in the rest-room when the gun discharged, but Hansen's actions before then had made him very nervous, including when Hansen said the Glock sidearms are used by police and military personnel because they don't have a safety mechanism to keep the gun from being fired accidentally.
"He said he was going to show us the rifling in the barrel, but then he pulled out a full magazine and a round from the chamber," Ulm said. "Right then, I was very leery, because there's no need to have live ammo in a gun in the class, but I figured he's the chief, so he must know what he's doing.
"I never saw him put the clip or the bullet back in the gun, but there was a gentleman in front of me blocking my view, so that's when it could have happened.
"I went to the bathroom, and that's when I heard the gunshot and people screaming, 'Officer down, officer down.' I went back to the room and called 911. There had been a dozen people in the room when I went to the bathroom, but some of them were already gone by the time I got back. Nobody told anyone they had to stay. Nobody asked if anyone else was hurt.
"In fact, when police officers came to the room, they told me to leave. The EMTs wouldn't come into the room until the police officers got there," Ulm said. "I told one of the first officers who responded that the gun had been placed in the hallway and he should secure it, but he looked at me like who was I to tell him how to do his job?
"In fact, the officer was joking with the chief, telling him, instead of shooting himself, he should have used the Taser."
Walker said he and other witnesses left the police station shortly after the 10:30 a.m. shooting without having been interviewed by police.
He said he was contacted around 5 p.m. by Sgt. Kevin Fuller. When Walker asked Fuller about the time lapse between the incident and the interview, Fuller responded, "That's the way we deal with it," Walker said.
"I think Riverdale police are just trying to keep this quiet and act like the chief is a hero, but if you ask me, he's really stupid," Walker said. "His state certification to teach concealed weapons classes should be taken away from him. This was totally gross negligence."
Police Sgt. Karen McIntosh said all officers were instructed Monday morning to refer questions to City Attorney Steve Brooks.
Monday evening, Mayor Bruce Barrows chastised the Standard-Examiner for what he said was a reporter's "unprofessional behavior" on Saturday when police would not release information after the shooting.
When informed that the official version of events on Saturday was being challenged by eyewitnesses, Burrows said Hansen deserved the privacy guaranteed by a federal law and that no further comment would be made until the department's internal investigation was completed.
Police Lt. James Ebert said earlier Monday that Hansen, 54, was recovering from the shooting and had been released from the hospital. He did not know when the chief would return to duty.
Hansen has been with the department since 1985, according to the department's Web site,
www.riverdalecity.com.
"One of the first things the chief told us in the class was that you treat every weapon as though it's loaded," Ulm said. "When he was waving that pistol around, we didn't know it was loaded, but he could have hit someone in that class.
"I don't care how long someone has been a cop, or how long they've been handling weapons. As a weapon handler, you need to use caution."
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(I posted the full text because articles quickly disappear or become unavailable on the Standard's website)
