The Denver Post
Ronny Flanagan took pride in his record as a police officer in Plano, Texas. He had an incident-free career. He took safety training regularly. He was known at the range as a very good shot.
Yet he killed a man when he was simply trying to press a flashlight switch mounted beneath the trigger on his pistol.
In a deposition, Flanagan expressed his remorse and made a prediction.
"I don't want anyone to ever sit in a chair I'm in right now," he said. "Think about the officers that aren't as well trained, officers that don't take it as seriously, and you put them in a pressure situation, another accident will happen. Not if, but will."
Flanagan was right. Three months after the October 2010 shooting in Plano, a 76-year-old man took a bullet in the stomach from a New York police officer trying to switch on the same flashlight model.
At least three other people in the U.S. over the past nine years have been shot accidentally by police officers with gun-mounted flashlights, an investigation by The Denver Post found. Two victims were fellow officers.
In Colorado, Denver's police chief banned the use of tactical flashlights with switches below the trigger guard after two officers accidentally fired their guns last year.
One of the officers may have shot a suspect when his finger slipped from the flashlight switch to the trigger, firing a bullet into a car window of the fleeing driver.
Other large Colorado police and sheriff's departments contacted by The Post said they have recorded no flashlight-related accidental gunshots. But many have imposed restrictions similar to Denver's.
Not an accidental shooting, a negligent shooting. Want to bet his finger was inside the trigger guard when he was hitting the light switch?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought. You did see the previous post which was about a civilian gun owner doing the same thing, right?
DeleteI did see it. And in reality, the shootings in both postings are negligent. I did write a comment for the other article, but it looks like it got lost. I just got internet working in my room here and possibly it hiccupped.
DeleteSo what do we do to make sure this doesn't happen again? Redesign the gun? Outlaw the faulty design? Take the gun away from idiots who cannot use it properly? Or just do nothing and wait for another death to happen?
DeleteSimple, you hold the shooter accountable for the misuse of the weapon. At the very least, the civilian Mike wrote of in his other posting should be charged with some form of negligent assault IMHO. And he could also be held civilly liable.
DeleteHowever, so too should the police officers who had this happen to them be held to the same standard.
I agree, except the design should be eliminated so it cannot happen again.
Delete"I don't want anyone to ever sit in a chair I'm in right now," he said. "Think about the officers that aren't as well trained, officers that don't take it as seriously, and you put them in a pressure situation, another accident will happen. Not if, but will."
The design is deadly faulty if a well trained officer can make such an easy mistake. Should the manufacturer be held accountable if their design is proven to be deadly even when well trained people use it?
I don't think it's the design. It's the low level of training and qualifications. If we raise the bar on those two things, for both cops and civilians, fewer negligent tragedies will take place.
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