Parks Ranger Accidentally Fires Gun in Apartment

[Stirling XD]

I'm sure few people here need to be reminded that you should practice drawing with an UNLOADED gun, but here's another example of how not to do it.

http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=23524

Larimer County ranger accidentally fires gun in Loveland apartment

By Jon Pilsner
Loveland Reporter-Herald

A Larimer County Parks ranger has been cited with a misdemeanor after she accidentally fired her handgun through the wall of her Loveland apartment. No one was injured.

The ranger, Cynthia Claggett, was practicing drawing her sidearm at her apartment in the 700 block of Southeast 14th Street about 2 a.m. May 31 when she fired a single round, according to a Loveland police incident report.

The bullet smashed through the shower wall at which she was aiming and into an adjacent apartment, which was unoccupied at the time.

Claggett, 29, told police that the third time she pulled out the gun, a .45-caliber semiautomatic, she disengaged the thumb safety and pulled the trigger, firing a single round.

The bullet, according to the report, went into the master bathroom of the adjacent apartment, passing through the trim and door jamb of the bathroom door and stopping at the foot of a bed in the master bedroom.

The bullet also passed about 2 feet from a crib in the master closet.

Nobody was in the apartment when the bullet was fired into it. The occupants, Robert and Michelle Young, later told police they were house-sitting in Berthoud.

Robert Young also told police the couple’s young child normally sleeps in the crib, according to the incident report.

Claggett said she had just gotten off work when she was practicing with the gun. The report indicates she was alone in her apartment at the time of the incident.

Claggett has been a county park ranger since 2007, the report says, and she passed police training and certification in 2005. She told the investigating officer she certifies annually in weapons training.

She told police, according to the report, that when she pulled out her gun the first two times, she didn’t disengage the thumb safety.

Alcohol did not appear to play a role in the accident, the report indicates, and the responding Loveland police officer, Brandon Johnson, said she appeared apologetic and remorseful when she told him about the accident.

The 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office decided to file the misdemeanor charge two days after the incident, on June 2.

 

[Gryffydd]

Wow... And she didn't even say she thought it was unloaded...

 

[WinchesterAA]

Brilliant. I bet it was the most perfect draw she's ever made, too, but she can't brag about it because she shot her pistol into a wall of an apartment.

 

[DHJenkins]

I thought it was always a bad idea to dry fire an automatic...?

 

[Gryffydd]

I thought it was always a bad idea to dry fire an automatic...?

An automatic rim fire, usually. Most centerfires are fine being dry fired.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Sounds like something that could happend to anyone, has happened to quite a few, and even happened to me once. To all those that it hasn't happened to YET, don't get on a high horse. I had a friend who was pretty condescending about my accidental until he had one. Didn't tell me about it for years, (ha, ha!). The worst thing about the lady ranger's AD is that it made the paper/news/internet. Didn't have an internet when I did mine........

 

[Gryffydd]

I'm staying off the high horse, but I would really like to know...did she KNOW it was loaded, and accidentally turn off the safety and pull the trigger? Or did she think it was unloaded?
That, and practicing your draw seems kind of like the sort of thing you put a bit of thought and preparation into. I can see a lot of activities that would be more likely to bring about an AD due to inattention...

 

[CoRoMo]

Practicing her draw was only her excuse. Only she knows how it really happened.

In my hometown, a deputy on the police force had an accidental discharge, at his house, late one night. His excuse was that he was cleaning the revolver. Only the shooter knows whether that is what the truth is.

 

[neverjeg]

Weird, my gun's have never fired when they were unloaded.

 

[rondog]

Alcohol did not appear to play a role in the accident

At 2am? Uh-huh, suuuuure.

 

[Shung]

the only professionnal nuff to..

 

[Eyesac]

I can never get my gun to dry-fire when it's loaded...

 

[cchris]

What rondog, you don't go around aiming loaded guns at shower tiles at 2 a.m. when you're sober?

And eyesac - you should try dry-firing my single-shot 12 gauge. It'll dry-fire when loaded. That's more or less because the transfer bar's broken off...

 

[Southern Rebel]

Geez, I didn't know Barney Fife had a sister!!!

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Just curious: will this misdemeanor hurt her career as a cop if she's convicted?

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

i don't think so, not if it is just a misdeneanor. might look sorta silly on her record, but i doubt she will ever get fired for it.

 

[kanook]

Weird, my gun's have never fired when they were unloaded

peope get shot every year from an unloaded gun. remember, treat every gun as if it were loaded. (at 2am alone, ya it's loaded)

 

[wickedsprint]

She'll probably get evicted..but if I was her boss I would not fire her. Everyone makes mistakes.

 

[moooose102]

wow, she, and the couple that lived in the apartment next door were very fortunate! i bet she felt about 1/2" tall when she reported her mistake. and rightfully so. maybe next time she gets the urge to practice drawing her gun, she will either unload it, or find a SAFE place out in the woods to do it. i am not so crazy about the location she was doing it in anyway. to many people in CLOSE proximity.

Geez, I didn't know Barney Fife had a sister!!!

think about it, this would have to be either his daughter, or grand daughter! lol!

 

[Deanimator]

"Quick draw" shooting accidents by MPs were so ubiquitous in the Army in the '70s and '80s, they were a standing joke.

When I worked at a NASA contractor in Cleveland in the '80s and '90s, a rent-a-cop was playing quick draw after hours in our building and shot a hole in the first floor lady's room door. A co-worker drew a chalk outline of a body on the door, with the bullet hole in the chest.

 

[Tinpig]

The worst thing about the lady ranger's AD is that it made the paper/news/internet.

No...the worst thing about it was that it happened in the first place.

No explanations, no excuses, no second chances. She would no longer work for me.

Tinpig

 

[neverjeg]

peope get shot every year from an unloaded gun. remember, treat every gun as if it were loaded. (at 2am alone, ya it's loaded)

They get shot with a gun believed to be unloaded. But obviously they either don't know how to be sure or didn't take the time to be sure. But, no one will argue with 'treat every gun as if it were loaded'.

 

[Guitargod1985]

Just curious: will this misdemeanor hurt her career as a cop if she's convicted?

What exactly is she being charged with? Discharge within city limits? I know in my jurisdiction (Florida) the law says one must "knowingly" and "willfully" discharge the weapon to be guilty of the offense. Just curious what the charge is, if it was truly an accident. Some kind of negligence charge maybe?

 

[Drail]

You can't blame her. Blame the people who trained her. You would be shocked to see and hear what is being taught in LEO academies and what is required to pass qualifications. The DEA agent who shot himself in a classromm is a classic example of this.

 

[Dihappy]

she passed police training and certification in 2005. She told the investigating officer she certifies annually in weapons training.

But i thought only police and properly trained individuals should own guns?? Riiiiight.

Im willing to bet my 14yo neice and 16yo nephew know better gun handling than most "police trained" folks.