www.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/nyregion/17shot.html

Officer Was Putting Gun Away When Fatal Shot Was Fired

By MICHAEL WILSON
Published: September 17, 2004

An off-duty police officer was putting away his service pistol on Wednesday night when it discharged and killed one of his closest friends, the police said yesterday.

The officer, Javier V. Colon, 25, of Canarsie, Brooklyn, was placed on a modified assignment pending an investigation. A police official said it appeared that the shooting was an accident caused by Officer Colon's not properly safeguarding the weapon. The official did not elaborate.

George Perez, 25, of West New York, N.J., was shot in the face and killed, the police said.

The shooting happened at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at a house in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn where a friend of Officer Colon lives. Officer Colon, Mr. Perez and an unidentified man who lives at the home on 81st Street had returned from a night out in Manhattan, the police said. They had not been drinking, but had brought beer back to the house, where an unidentified woman who also lives there was home, the police said.

Minutes after walking through the door, Officer Colon removed his side arm, a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, and was storing it in a bureau in his friend's kitchen when it discharged, the police said. Mr. Perez was in a bathroom next to the kitchen when he was shot, the police said.

Officer Colon applied first aid, while the other man and the woman in the house called 911, the police said. At some point, Officer Colon ran out of the house shouting, "I shot my best friend!" the police said.

Officer Colon joined the Police Department about a year ago and worked in the 75th Precinct.

In Canarsie, Officer Colon was known for having a friendly manner, said one man who knew him. "He's real polite,'' said the man, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Roger, and who said he was 20. "He's cool. He's real friendly. If I see him, he's always asking how are you doing and how was your day.''

Mr. Perez had been married for about one year, said a woman who lives near Mr. Perez in New Jersey and declined to give her name. "He was just a good, hard-working person," the woman said. "They were a very, very loving couple."

Let me guess:  A Glock with the famous "New York" trigger.

An off-duty police officer was putting away his service pistol on Wednesday night when it discharged and killed one of his closest friends, the police said yesterday

IT DIDNT DISCARGE!  HIS FINGER PULLED THE TRIGGER!


THIS IS MANSLAUGHTER!!!

Police officers undergo much more training than normal citizens which is why they should be trusted with carrying a weapon anywhere.

" The the the gun JUST went off...! "

Quoted: Let me guess:  A Glock with the famous "New York" trigger.

Minutes after walking through the door, Officer Colon removed his side arm, a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, and was storing it in a bureau in his friend's kitchen when it discharged, the police said. Mr. Perez was in a bathroom next to the kitchen when he was shot, the police said[/quote[

Quoted: An off-duty police officer was putting away his service pistol on Wednesday night when it discharged and killed one of his closest friends, the police said yesterday IT DIDNT DISCARGE!  HIS FINGER PULLED THE TRIGGER! THIS IS MANSLAUGHTER!!!

accidental-so far no proof of intent so i'm thinkin NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE

Quoted: Let me guess:  A Glock with the famous "New York" trigger.

Quoted: ...a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson...

But when I put a Glock away, I always...

Drop the mag
Eject the chambered round
Rack the slide a few more times to make sure:
...that the chambered round is really gone
...that I removed the magazine (if I didn't, then more rounds will pop out - happened once)
Point the weapon in a safe direction
Pull the trigger to release the striker spring

When I pick it up again, I can visually verify that it is not chambered, because when the trigger is pulled on an empty chamber, the trigger does not reset.  It also means that if I pick it up in the middle of the night, a clumsy grip (e.g. my ring finger ends up in the trigger guard) won't cause a negligent discharge.

Quoted: An off-duty police officer was putting away his service pistol on Wednesday night when it discharged and killed one of his closest friends, the police said yesterday IT DIDNT DISCARGE!  HIS FINGER PULLED THE TRIGGER!

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Let me guess:  A Glock with the famous "New York" trigger. Minutes after walking through the door, Officer Colon removed his side arm, a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, and was storing it in a bureau in his friend's kitchen when it discharged, the police said. Mr. Perez was in a bathroom next to the kitchen when he was shot, the police said[/quote[

Officer .....Colon.  What an ass!  If you search around a bit, you will find that there are several instance where an male officer and another male citizen, or two officers are present with one female and one male shoots the other.  Fatal negligent discharge=manslaughter.  

An off-duty police officer was putting away his service pistol on Wednesday night when it discharged and killed one of his closest friends, the police said yesterday.

Nope.  They don't discharge by themselves unless you're shooting so much that it causes a chambered round to cook off, or there's a complete catastrophic failure of mechanical parts.  You have a better chance of winning the lottery.  Dumb ass pulled the trigger, whether he meant to or not is irrelevent.

A police official said it appeared that the shooting was an accident caused by Officer Colon's not properly safeguarding the weapon.

Ne-gli-gence

This guy was careless, and unfortunately his best friend paid the ultimate price for it.

Its too bad, but thats what happens when you are not careful.

Quoted: They don't discharge by themselves unless you're shooting so much that it causes a chambered round to cook off

That happened to me once.


It was an interesting experience.  

Quoted: Quoted: They don't discharge by themselves unless you're shooting so much that it causes a chambered round to cook off That happened to me once. It was an interesting experience.

It happened to me a lot during one great shooting outing in the guard. It was a fun experience.

Needs JAIL TIME ------------- sorry but no double standards .

Quoted: Needs JAIL TIME ------------- sorry but no double standards .

I've seen plenty of "accidental" shootings of "civilians" no get prosecuted. In fact, I'd bet that most of them aren't prosecuted when they prove to be clearly non-intentional.


Those harping that there is a double standard on this issue are idiots.



AZ(seensometragicshootings)K9

And I have seen almost all fatal traffic accidents result in prosecutions for some form of homicide -- with jail time.

And thats a fact jack.

No difference here --------IMO

Hmmm.....shot in face.....

MT

The victim wasn't in the same room as the guy with the gun. It appears that he may have been shot through the wall. I don't see a double standard here. Locally, the guy who blew his son's head off with a scoped rifle wasn't prosecuted (kid was wearing a watch cap during a hunting outing; at a range of 50+ yds, dad saw the fuzzy bump over a small rise in a tilled field, thought it was a hog, shot it. It was the back of Junior's head).

Quoted: The victim wasn't in the same room as the guy with the gun. It appears that he may have been shot through the wall. I don't see a double standard here. Locally, the guy who blew his son's head off with a scoped rifle wasn't prosecuted (kid was wearing a watch cap during a hunting outing; at a range of 50+ yds, dad saw the fuzzy bump over a small rise in a tilled field, thought it was a hog, shot it. It was the back of Junior's head).

Well sorry ----------- I think that he needs prosecuted also............... shooting at a fuzzy spot in the woods. Fuck him, not like his life depended on the "shot".

I mean lets get real here ................. it was a life.


Might make the next guy think about shooting at that fuzzy object the next time. Or at least clean the woods out of numbskulls.

Quoted: Quoted: They don't discharge by themselves unless you're shooting so much that it causes a chambered round to cook off That happened to me once. It was an interesting experience.

Someone once posted a video here of a few guys shooting full auto in a desert, and as this guy was walking around (with the gun pointed in a safe place fortunately), the gun fired.  The guy looked surprised and said, "I didn't pull the trigger!"  Suddenly it shot again, and he unloaded it.

Even if this guy was shot because his handgun cooked off a round, the cop still broke one of the main rules, which is, "ONLY POINT YOUR GUN AT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DESTROY".

Again, not an accident.It was carelessness and stupidity, clearly preventable.Sadly, a couple of families are hurtin'

Anyone can have an accident, no matter the training. I never unloaded my pistol when I was an LEO no matter where I was putting it. Hell, our other task force here at the post I am at now (in the Army)is in Iraq and we had a guy killed inside a buttoned up M1 with an RPG the other day, one piece of shrapnel just happened to find its way between the hatch and turret and riccoched into the tank and hit him. He was even wearing a kevelar CVC and an IBA. Things happen that are out of your hands sometimes, people are always so quick to point a finger without ever seeing the real facts (not just what they hear on the news) Everyone is always such an expert "Ah hell, that could NEVER happen, must be murder" Just fuckin hang him then, fuck a trial right?

Could have been a bad "hammer drop" habit...

I've seen friends of mine "drop the hammer" on an empty chamber, in an effort to spare the hammer spring...
Maybe this guy forgot he had one chambered and dropped the hammer... It's a bad habit, but I've seen it done countless times... Twice I've seen a round sent into the air when a guy dropped the hammer on a loaded chamber, thinking it was empty. He didn't want to leave the hammer cocked, and fatigue the spring... Instead, he sent a .30 cal bullet into God knows where...TWICE the same day... Needless to say, I never shot with him again...

accidents happen. him having to live with killing his best friend is more than enough punishment, imho.

Quoted: accidents happen. him having to live with killing his best friend is more than enough punishment, imho.

+1

Quoted: Could have been a bad "hammer drop" habit... I've seen friends of mine "drop the hammer" on an empty chamber, in an effort to spare the hammer spring... Maybe this guy forgot he had one chambered and dropped the hammer... It's a bad habit, but I've seen it done countless times... Twice I've seen a round sent into the air when a guy dropped the hammer on a loaded chamber, thinking it was empty. He didn't want to leave the hammer cocked, and fatigue the spring... Instead, he sent a .30 cal bullet into God knows where...TWICE the same day... Needless to say, I never shot with him again...

nope, cant be that. Being a NYPD service pistol, it is double action only.

Quoted: accidents happen. him having to live with killing his best friend is more than enough punishment, imho.

+1

a tragic accident.

That sucks