Albemarle County police officer and firearms instructor David Wallace was unloading his service pistol yesterday morning when the gun discharged, firing a 40-caliber round into his right leg. The experienced shooter and member of the county tactical team was given first aid until a rescue squad took him to the UVa Medical Center, where he was reported to be in good condition. Reed Williams has the story in today’s Progress.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
-
Archive for Sideblog »
Might want to change "office" to "officer" in the headline, at first read I imagined the county office building shooting an artillery gun straight up into the air. : )
and now his proofreading skills has gone all to hell! :P
*Laugh*
It’s been a long week…it’s mid-term time. Despite the fact that we’re not midway through the term. (I don’t understand, either.) One more week and they’re done. I just hope that I have proofread my papers better than I’ve proofread stories here. :)
But think of the relief when you have proofed your papers and can then forget all that garbage.
These things can happen and Officer Wallace has my sympathy but I can`t help noting the way these things are reported as:
"yesterday morning when the gun discharged"
Now that is standard and accepted reporting phraseology but unless the weapon was faulty and no outside interference was evident it could well be phrased:
"yesterday morning when HE accidently discharged the gun"
Guns don`t discharge. Something discharges guns.
Officer Wallace is an instuctor in small arms and I venture a guess he will agree with the above.
I wish him well. He teaches a difficult subject.
I agree. It’s an unfourtunate incident – but the golden rule of firearms is that you never put your finger on the trigger until the gun is pointed in a safe direction.
Most modern guns have several built in safety devices that make is darn near impossible for the gun to go off UNLESS the trigger is pulled. My pistol have three devices and can dropped off you roof while cocked and will not fire.
I have $20 that says the gun was a Glock. A loaded Glock is always cocked, and has a "trigger in a trigger" safety device that I am not overly fond of. It’s designed to only allow the trigger to pull if it’s pulled straight back. Nice in concept, and it does work, but if you DO put your finger on the trigger, it’s only about 4 pounds of pull to fire the gun.
My SIG, when uncocked, requires a long and hard (10.5 pound) pull to fire. MUCH less likely to fire if you do put your finger on the trigger. Subsequent, cocked shots are short and 4.5 pounds.
Anyway, just a guess. I know DC’s incidents of accidental discharges went way up when they adoped Glocks years ago.
Cops shoot some sort of .45, like maybe a colt? I’m not sure. I know they dont use glocks. But its like your gun in that it can cockitself from the first trigger pull.
The thing is, any gun can be fired, and therefore someone will eventually shoot themselves while cleaning/loading/unloading/playing with a gun. The cool thing about the glock triple safety is that you cant leave the safety "off" like you can with other guns. I think perhaps the reason that accidental discarges went up in DC is that the people were used to the old gun design, and treated the glocks like they were their old ones.
What bothers me, is that this man is a police officer, and its part of his EVERYDAY job to unload pistols he finds in peoples posession. Its easy, Grip the gun while pointed in a safe direction, remove clip, re-cycle the bolt to extract the round. HOW HARD IS THAT?
I am pretty sure I have seen some of them shoot Glocks. I’ve seen them – both at the range and in the holster. I may be wrong, but I don’t think they all necessarily shoot the same gun. I THINK they can have some choice. Any officers reading? Correct me if I am wrong, as I certainly am not an authority on local law enforcement.
You are absolutely correct about the about the Glock safety. I didn’t get a Glock because I didn’t like the "trigger in trigger" safety device. Too weird for me. My SIG does not have a trigger locking safety at all. The safety is in the long, 10.5 pound trigger pull which makes it very hard to accidently pull. You have to work at it. The downside is that the first shot, if uncocked, has a different trigger pull from all subsequent shots. Glocks always have the same trigger pull, as they are always cocked is a round is in the chamber.
You hit it on the nose about DC – in fact, they mentioned that in the article. Again, that’s why I didn’t get one. Too different. The SIG was more conventional, and in my hands, a safer gun than a Glock. Plus, the Navy Seals shoot SIGs because they shot underwater better … always a plus. You never know when you’ll be underwater. :)
I thought the glock G17 was the ONLY gun that could fire underwater. It requires a firing pin mod though. Shooting underwater is stupid, its only effective within about a foot.
Your gun has no safety after the first round is loaded? That sucks! What if you left it loaded? You cant flip a switch to keep it from firing?
I dont own a handgun, it’s the ultimate safety ;)