Officer accidentally shoots foot while at nuclear plant training

[Insectguy]

Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Officer accidentally shoots foot while at nuclear plant training
Injury was not life-threatening
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
A woman accidentally shot herself in the foot last week at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant’s shooting range.
The injury was non-life-threatening. The woman’s name was not released.
The incident happened about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, said MNGP spokeswoman Kelli Huxford. The woman, a Wackenhut
security officer who works at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Red Wing, was in Monticello for training on the plant’s
shooting range.
Huxford said the woman was practicing at the range when a hot shell casing popped out of her gun and went down the back of
her shirt.
As she attempted to remove the casing, she accidentally pressed the trigger of her weapon, shooting herself in the foot, Huxford
said.
Monticello and Prairie Island plant employees at the range, who are trained as EMTs, administered first aid until a Monticello-Big
Lake Ambulance arrived. The security officer was transported to Monticello-Big Lake Community Hospital and later transferred to
North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. She was released late last week.
“She is expected to make a full recovery,” Huxford said. “It was an unfortunate thing, but she’s going to be fine. That’s the most
important thing right now.”
Huxford said Prairie Island security officers come up to Monticello for training and certification because the Prairie Island plant
does not have a shooting range of its own. The officers from both plants frequently train together on various exercises, she added.
This is the first time such an accidental shooting has occurred in Monticello, Huxford said. Both Monticello and Prairie Island
reported the incident to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

 

[stevelyn]

I wonder which hurt worse, the hot cartridge case going down her back or the hot bullet going through her foot?

 

[El Tejon]

Dance of the Hot Scorpion!

 

[Fly320s]

I wonder which hurt worse, the hot cartridge case going down her back or the hot bullet going through her foot?

Probably the taunting from her peers after she recovers.

 

[Onmilo]

I'm betting the accidental discharge involved a Glock handgun.
My buddy worked at one of those plants as a security operative and left after they armed the guards with Glocks.
Seems guards were a.d.ing on a weekly basis with those guns, one almost shot the Chief of Security which guaranteed comprehensive mandatory firearms safety training.
It appears the training has not improved anything.
My buddy hates Glocks and carries a Sig on duty.
I still like Glocks,,,,,

 

[mfree]

Wackenhut, here anyways, equals Sig 226.

 

[KevinB]

I really doubt it would of made any difference what type of handgun it was, glock or not. She was so focused on that hot brass instead of muzzle control and trigger discipline, I believe the same thing would have happened had it been a Sig, H&K, 1911 or anything else. I don't own a glock, nor am I a huge fan, I just think its silly that some people claim that glocks cause N.D.'s.

-Kevin

 

[molonlabe]

Yup gotta be the glocks. Their the only handgun that seem to ND when.
A- You have it loaded
B- You have your finger on the trigger
C- You actually squeeze the trigger
And damm it someone always seems to get hurt when they are pointed in an unsafe direction.

I don't know when the Goverment will wise up and ban them there Glocks

AD to ND

 

[foghornl]

OOOOOHHHH I FEEL so safe now.

 

[GEM]

Could have been reflexive before you had a chance to contemplate the safety rules.

I once got bopped on the head by a 50 AE casing. I was standing well behind the line and it bounced off the side of a stall at an angle I couldn't see and nailed me between the eyes. Ouch!

 

[AK-74me]

I work in Nuclear Security at another plant and we got an OE (operating experience) email on this about a week ago. I think I remember it was an AR-15 she was using. That is the impression I got from reading the email anyway. Our people addressed the hot casing down the shirt issue a few years ago when they realized it could be a problem. We now have to wear billed ball caps and tight fitting clothing with no collar when we are at the range.

BTW we carry SIG-226 9mm and Colt AR's and we spend lots of time on the range, we have and on-site range and we spend far more time then the local PD(excluding SWAT) on firearms training.

 

[Henry Bowman]

At least she [probably] didn't precede it with, "I'm the only one in this room professional enough . . .."

 

[AK-74me]

Ahhh ok I found the Email it was an Armalite AR-10 rifle

 

[RavenVT100]

Holy, that's gotta hurt so much worse in the foot than a handgun round.

Was she the only person there who was professional enough to carry that AR-10?

 

[jcoiii]

LOL at HB! I've seen that one too. DOH!

Wanna know what they told us at the range during my academy?

"If a piece of hot brass goes into your shirt, suck it up, holster up, and step back off the line. Do not do anything til you've holstered!!" Can't tell you how many casings I got hit with over three days and 1500 rounds per person. Probably 50-100. Had a few stick in my shirt. Oh well, finish my shots for that round, then deal with the brass. Can't call off in the middle b/c a piece of brass fell in your shirt.

 

[AK-74me]

According to what I read she was holding the rifle with the sling around her. When the brass entered her shirt she let it fall with the sling catching it. Now whether or not the trigger got pulled by her finger or some of her equipment I don't know but obviously she didn't put the weapon on safe first.

 

[LaVere]

Hot case bounced and hit face.

At the range the other day and a .40SW case bounced off the side wall of the stall and hopped over eyeglasses and burned in a micro second. I do recall that I kept the hand gun down range in my shooting hand and flicked off the glasses with my other hand. It was a auto reflex action. The burn is now looking good after a week now.
I like the suggestion about the ball cap. From now on I'll use one. We had ball caps in the Army and now I know why

 

[Andrew Rothman]

I got brand new cloth baseball caps (Super Bowl XXXVI, I think) four for a dollar at a flea market. I keep them in my range bag for guests to use.

I've actually approached a pretty young thing at the range and suggested most deferentially that hot brass, curvy girls and scoop necks just don't mix. She thanked me and put on a windbreaker.

I like to think I did my part to prevent the desecration of a work of art.

 

[JamisJockey]

I'm betting the accidental discharge involved a Glock handgun.

Reread the original post.

she accidentally pressed the trigger of her weapon

That would be an ND, or Negligent Discharge. She pulled the fking trigger, it didn't go off by itself.


:banghead:

 

[Hardware]

Not nearly as good a story but...

Pre-9/11 I was working a computer project for the local power company. Everybody on the project had to fill out a federal background check in order to enter a nuclear generation facility. If that check had gotten more thorough there would have had to have been a nurse in the room.

Anyhow, I show up for my first day at the nuclear plant and got the security orientation from a nice lady. Very clear instructions, empty pockets into giant petri dish which takes it through the X-ray machine. Step into bomb sniffer, wait for green light. At green light proceed to metal detector, etc. There was a gentleman on our team named Assam. Nice man of Middle Eastern origin, he actually became a citizen during the course of the project. Well, he had this quirk about not liking to take direction from ladies.

So, second day on the job and the first day we have to pass through security on our own. As I'm walking into the security building I see Assam walking toward the building. I go through the rigamarole of getting through security. As I am getting my ID from security Assam enters the building. Passes by the belt for the X-ray machine where you were supposed to empty your pockets and walks through the bomb sniffer. Well, the alarms start going off and the Middle Eastern man puts his oversized laptop bag down inside the security area and runs back through the bomb sniffer and into the lobby area. Meanwhile security officers packing MP-5s and Berrett 92s come pouring out of the security office screaming at Assam to get down on the floor.

In my most manly fashion I hunkered down behind the security kiosk until the shouting was over. No shots fired, Assam was only slightly mussed. Made for a two donut morning and an interesting story though.

 

[AK-74me]

Well, the alarms start going off and the Middle Eastern man puts his oversized laptop bag down inside the security area and runs back through the bomb sniffer and into the lobby area. Meanwhile security officers packing MP-5s and Berrett 92s come pouring out of the security office screaming at Assam to get down on the floor.

So he alarms the explosive detector, then upon doing so he sets down a bag full of electrontics in the screening area and runs back through the explosive detectors backwards? He is lucky all he got was a good yelling at, if that doesn't look suspicious I don't know what is.

 

[mfree]

Ok, ok... *** was Assam thinking?

 

[Onmilo]

I reread the post, no need to cuss or bang your head on a wall.
You call it a politically correct "negligent discharge" I call it an "accidental discharge", same-same whatever you wish to call it.
All the other ADs that occured involved somebody stupidly pulling the trigger at an inappropriate time because firearms don't generally go off for no apparent reason and playing nomenclature games doesn't change the fact that accidents are caused by negligence.

 

[molonlabe]

Yup gotta be the AR10's. Their the only Rifle that seem to ND when.
A- You have it loaded
B- You have your finger on the trigger
C- You actually squeeze the trigger
And damm it someone always seems to get hurt when they are pointed in an unsafe direction.

I don't know when the Goverment will wise up and ban them there AR10"s


Changed AD to ND

 

[Byron Quick]

I shoot at a rifle range on the Yuchi Wildlife Management Area about two miles from the Plant Vogtle Nuclear Plant. Plant security officers also use the range. I must say that I am not impressed with their level of training.

Two of them, a man and a woman, were practicing with an AR15. Overhearing their conversation, they were practicing for qualification with the weapon. But they couldn't get the weapons zeroed correctly. After a while, I took pity, and moseyed on over and showed them how to adjust the front sight.


What level of training were they receiving when they didn't even know how to adjust the front sight? I avoid all contact with that plant's security force. I'm afraid I might appear to be suspicious to them.