Let's count the ways....he messed up!!

Car Knocker · May 5, 2008

Chief accidentally shoots self at training session
May 4th, 2008 @ 11:56am
RIVERDALE Utah (AP) -- The police chief in Riverdale accidentally shot himself in an ankle while demonstrating how to dislodge a jammed handgun.

Chief Dave Hansen was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden for surgery.

The 54-year-old chief accidentally fired a gun during a training exercise inside a conference room at Riverdale police headquarters.

A fire captain and Riverdale Mayor Bruce Burrows confirmed the chief shot himself Saturday in an ankle bone. They said he was trying to fix a gun with a jammed round when the bullet fired.

Riverdale police officers carry .40-caliber pistols.

A Weber County dispatcher said nobody from the Riverdale police department was available Sunday to release any information on the accident. The hospital refused to describe Hansen's condition.

The chief's brother, a state lawmaker, said Hansen is a 23-year veteran and chief of the Riverdale police force since 2006.

Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, said he regularly goes target practicing with his brother and described him as safety-conscious.

"I've never seen him do anything reckless," Neil Hansen told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden.

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Information from: Standard-Examiner

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3226344

GeneticsDave · May 5, 2008

Wow... it will be interesting to learn more as the story develops.

divegeek · May 5, 2008

Car Knocker said:
The 54-year-old chief accidentally fired a gun during a training exercise inside a conference room at Riverdale police headquarters.

Besides all the other possibilities, I wonder what kind of training exercise in a conference room involves live ammo.

I hope he recovers quickly. I'm sure the whole department got some excellent training on the importance of rule #2.

bane · May 5, 2008

Car Knocker said:
Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, said he regularly goes target practicing with his brother and described him as safety-conscious.

"I've never seen him do anything reckless," Neil Hansen told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden.

As Swilden pointed out, this happened in a "conference room" with live ammo... what about that is "safety-conscious" or NOT "reckless".

I admit I do manipulate my gun in the privacy of my own home (no children) with the gun pointed in a safe direction. But I would never do so in a public place with others around with live ammo while the gun is muzzling (apparently) my ankle (or anyone else, for that matter)

"Safety Conscious"??? Let's see...

Rule #1: All guns are always loaded! (apparently he forget that even a jammed gun still contains a round)
Rule #2: Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy! (oops, I guess he forgot this one!)
Rule #3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target! (admittedly, I am not an expert on jammed weapons but I'm curious where his finger was when, as the article cites, "the round went off")
Rule #4: Always be sure of your target! (hmmm... was he intending to aim at his ankle???)

divegeek · May 5, 2008

bane said:
Rule #3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target! (admittedly, I am not an expert on jammed weapons but I'm curious where his finger was when, as the article cites, "the round went off")

Good point. I wouldn't say I'm an expert either, but I've never seen any properly-functioning weapon that will fire unless the trigger is pulled. He had to have had his finger on the trigger while racking the slide to clear the malfunction.

xmirage2kx · May 5, 2008

If your going to be stupid you got to be tough

Paul · May 5, 2008

The only way a gun "goes off" is if you pull the trigger. He broke all the rules! I bet we don't hear much about this incident. I'm sure the PD is embaressed and will do their best to keep this quiet.

Mazellan · May 5, 2008

swillden said:
bane said:

Rule #3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target! (admittedly, I am not an expert on jammed weapons but I'm curious where his finger was when, as the article cites, "the round went off")

Click to expand...

Good point. I wouldn't say I'm an expert either, but I've never seen any properly-functioning weapon that will fire unless the trigger is pulled. He had to have had his finger on the trigger while racking the slide to clear the malfunction.

I prefer the term "bugger hook." :ROFL: :lolbang: :ROFL:

All joking aside, he as an avid shooter and leo he should have known better. Its not like he is a DEA agent or anything. There the only ones professional enough to carry a glock .40. :lol2:

divegeek · May 5, 2008

Mazellan said:
Its not like he is a DEA agent or anything. There the only ones professional enough to carry a glock .40. :lol2:

Seen that video a hundred times... and it cracks me up all over again every time I watch it.

The best part is when they pick up the rifle and the kid yells "Put it down!". Who says kids are dumb?

:lol3: :ROFL:

rdoggsilva · May 5, 2008

I just wonder why he was using live ammo. When ever I dry fire or practice at home I use dummy ammo.

Car Knocker · May 5, 2008

rdoggsilva said:
I just wonder why he was using live ammo. When ever I dry fire or practice at home I use dummy ammo.

I'd say he successfully used "dummy" ammo! :ROFL:

OK, I'll go stand in the corner for a while!

bane · May 5, 2008

I'm curious... if this were a civilian I'm assuming they'd be brought up on ND charges, right??? And a guilty ND, if I'm not mistaken, will cause you to lose your CC permit, right???

Any idea what the outcome for this LEO is likely to be???

GeneticsDave · May 5, 2008

bane said:
I'm curious... if this were a civilian I'm assuming they'd be brought up on ND charges, right??? And a guilty ND, if I'm not mistaken, will cause you to lose your CC permit, right???

Any idea what the outcome for this LEO is likely to be???

Well, I doubt any since it happened inside the building and nobody (except himself) was injured. Had this happened out on the street that might be a different story.

bane · May 5, 2008

Oh.... I was under the impression that if I ever had an ND at home and the cops figured out which townhouse it was in that I could be charged...

Paul · May 5, 2008

bane said:
Oh.... I was under the impression that if I ever had an ND at home and the cops figured out which townhouse it was in that I could be charged...

If your city had an ordinance against discharging a gun in city limits or something similar, then yes you could be charged because of an ND, if it got traced to you somehow. Not sure if anyone would take an ND that far, but they certainly could because techincally you had broken the law.

GeneticsDave · May 5, 2008

Yeah, I'm not saying that discharging a weapon inside city limits is legal (except at ranges and in self-defense), but since it was inside a building (contained), nobody was injured and who are they gonna call, themselves? I don't think he will be formally charged. He may be given administrative leave, but I doubt it will amount to much.

Paul · May 5, 2008

GeneticsDave said:
Yeah, I'm not saying that discharging a weapon inside city limits is legal (except at ranges and in self-defense), but since it was inside a building (contained), nobody was injured and who are they gonna call, themselves? I don't think he will be formally charged. He may be given administrative leave, but I doubt it will amount to much.

I think Bane was pointing out that the neighbors COULD call and report you and then yes, you could be charged.

So in this case, yes the cops would call themselves (yeah right) but remember it is the DA that presses charges...maybe someone should press the issue there. LOL.

Car Knocker · May 5, 2008

UPDATE

Police chief recovering after accidentally shooting himself
May 5, 2008

Gene Kennedy reporting

Riverdale's police chief will be out of the hospital tonight after accidentally shooting himself over the weekend. Riverdale Police Chief Dave Hansen will likely be on crutches for weeks.

On Saturday morning, the police chief was teaching a class on concealed weapons permits. His gun accidentally went off, and the bullet went through his ankle. He was using his Glock as a display. He was teaching gun safety to about a dozen citizens at the Riverdale Police Department.

Utah Rep. Neil Hansen, chief's brother He pulled the clip out of the gun, and then he was making sure the chamber was clear. Neil Hansen, the police chief's brother, said, "He pointed it down, pulled the trigger because he didn't want to give it to a classmate not knowing for sure whether a shell was in there. And at that point, the gun discharged and [the bullet] had gone through his ankle."

It's not the first time a gun training session has gone bad. On the popular site, YouTube, there is a video of a drug enforcement officer who accidentally shot himself in the leg while teaching a class. In the video, the officer is heard saying, "I'm the only one in this room professional enough, that I know of, to carry this Glock 40." The officer continued his presentation as if nothing happened.

That's not what happened for the Riverdale police chief. Neil Hansen said, "After it have gone off, he tried to stand up, and that's when he realized his ankle was so damaged."

The chief's brother, Utah Rep. Neil Hansen, said paramedics were next door. They rushed the chief to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden where he spent the weekend recovering. Neil Hansen said, "It looks like he may have to have a surgery or two. Right now, they have a rod on the outside of his ankle to kinda hold it together."

The police chief and his officers have been told to not make public comment because the incident is an open investigation. But Steve Brooks, the Ogden City attorney, told Eyewitness News there's been an obvious mistake in procedure. He said, "We're not admitting that Chief Hansen did everything correct here. Obviously, something wasn't done correctly, and unfortunately, he's the one who paid the price for it."

The investigation on this incident will last about two weeks. The city attorney said the chief won't be able to return to work for at least a month.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=481&sid=3235320

GeneticsDave · May 5, 2008

Ok, can we say stupid? So let me see, the way to make a gun safe is to remove the mag and then pull the trigger to determine if the chamber is empty... what ever happened to "Mag check, chamber check"? You have to visually and digitally (using a finger) check both. Sounds to me like he removed the mag but didn't pull the slide back to visually check the chamber. He probably should have been taking the class and not teaching it.

doconix · May 5, 2008

GeneticsDave said:
You have to visually and digitally

Aha! I knew there was something digital about this old technology we call firearms! Like I always say, everything's going digital nowadays.