Trooper Shoots Himself In Finger

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10/21/09

A state trooper injured his finger in a shooting accident at the state police firing range last week, police said.

The trooper, a sergeant at the Troop K barracks in Colchester, shot himself during what is known as a "live-fire" training exercise at the state police firing range on Nod Road in Simsbury, sources said.

The call for medical assistance came in to local police at 6:51 p.m. Oct. 13, according to Simsbury police records.

The trooper's injury was minor, said Lt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman. There will be no internal affairs investigation or disciplinary action because the accident occurred during a training exercise, he said. State police conducted a safety review after the incident, Vance said.



— Christine Dempsey





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Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant

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JUMPMASTER wrote:

10/21/09

A state trooper injured his finger in a shooting accident at the state police firing range last week, police said.

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Doubt it. The story feels more like negligence. One of his other fingers was probably on the trigger.

Luckily he'll be ok.

Always remember the four rules...

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Hope the officer recovers well and quick of course.

I would like details on how he managed to shoot his finger though.

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I saw in another forum something along the lines of "a friend of a friend saw his finger on the trigger" but I find the report highly suspect. I'll see if I can find a link anyway.

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http://www.ctguntalk.com/testforum/YaBB.pl?num=1256085006

A trooper I know told me about it at church Sunday. He says the trooper's gun cleared the holster with his finger already on the trigger and his weak hand in front of the muzzle.

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gluegun wrote:

http://www.ctguntalk.com/testforum/YaBB.pl?num=1256085006

A trooper I know told me about it at church Sunday. He says the trooper's gun cleared the holster with his finger already on the trigger and his weak hand in front of the muzzle.

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Guns just don't go off by themselves, I don't know how you'd want to be finger on trigger until the pistol was on it's way to being on point. Depending on what the exercise is I can't think of a reason to have a finger on the trigger unless the shooter is ready to make the shot.

Something to think about here is the somewhat cavalier attitude to firearm safety that at least one CT State trooper has, think about that when you get disarmed for "officer safety" - the safest place FOR a handgun is in the holster not being jostled and handled and cleared by someone who may not be familiar with your particular model of gun. Makes you shudder.

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not only should your finger not be on the trigger but your other hand should never be in front of the muzzle. i have looked into competing in the uspsa. if at any time your weapon is pointed at your hand you lose points. this officer obviously needs some retraining on weapon safety. if he ever disarmed me and shot me in the leg by mistake disciplinary action from the state police is the last thing he would be worried about.