Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office will conduct an independent investigation into the incident, Gilbreath said. He said body-worn camera video from the responding officers showed that Currington’s gun was in the holster when they arrived. He said the video shows Maxwell securing Currington’s gun. Maxwell had to eject the empty shell casing from the chamber, which Gilbreath said proves the gun was locked into Currington’s holster and thus unable to cycle. Gilbreath said there is no way for anything to touch the trigger while it was in the holster. |
This is not rocket science. If we accept two premises: 1) that the P320 cannot fire by itself, and that 2) the operator did not pull the trigger, it is obvious that something else depressed the trigger. The prime suspect is the type of holster commonly utilized, designed to intrude into the trigger guard area--a retention feature against which the design of the gun, absent an auxiliary safety, provides no safeguard. Sooner or later, a momentary distortion of the holster, or movement of the gun inside it, is going to trip the trigger.Of interest, Ford went through similar problems with their Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. The gestalt was that their gas tank was defective, causing a number of vehicle fires. Statistics don't lie, right?
Ford actually produced a kevlar lined trunk liner which was designed to prevent objects from penetrating the back of the vehicle and the gas tank during accidents.
Well, the real issue was that a huge number of Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors spend many hours parked along high speed highways when using radar to monitor roads for speeders, and as a result are unusually vulnerable for rear end collisions. When they get hit from the rear at high speed, their gas tanks are often penetrated and catch fire.
It wasn't a vehicle design problem. It was how the vehicle was commonly utilized.
Most Safariland holsters (the ones with the recall) lock on the ejection port/slide, not the light (at least the ones I have for WMLs do). Generally, many holsters designed for WMLs leave a large gap around the trigger guard to accommodate the WML. All it takes is a pen, pencil, shirt, etc to get in there and away we go.So... is it possible that there was some interference between a locking retention device and the trigger? Is this another case where a weapon light allowed enough motion within the holster for the trigger to be actuated because of interference within the trigger guard with the locking retention mechanism? Those facts would be interesting to understand.
Do you include improper holster fit (ie, the holster manufacturer) to be user error?So far on every case I've seen with the details and facts, it's been a user error. Still waiting for a valid case where the gun actually goes off when it's not being mishandled.
I do. If a firearm is a lethal weapon, shouldn't the Agency and the individual LEO give it "lethal weapon" level familiarity and respect? Shouldn't the Agency and the individual LEO spend the time and money to ensure competent handling?Do you include improper holster fit (ie, the holster manufacturer) to be user error?
At this point, Yes.Do you include improper holster fit (ie, the holster manufacturer) to be user error?