There is a bizarre case out of Gonzales, Louisiana where an off-duty police officer named Chase Delatte was cavorting in a strip club called Crazy Horse Cabaret when he went into the bathroom to check if his firearm in his ankle holster was loaded. It discharged and put a slug through the bathroom door. Accordingly to reports, Delatte then went outside, paid his bill, and simply drove home.
When police finally tracked him down at home, officers reported “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emitting from his facial area.”
Gonzales Police Chief Sherman Jackson will only say that his department investigated the incident and appropriate action was taken. Ready for this? The appropriate action of an officer accidentally firing his Glock through the door of a strip club and leaving without reporting the discharge is . . . three days suspension. Jackson does not explain if the officers proceeded to determine how Delatte got home or whether he was given a sobriety test. Instead, Jackson insists “I know officer Delatte well and firmly believe him to be an officer of exceptional character. We are thankful that no one was hurt.” “An officer of exceptional character” who fires a round through the door of a strip club and flees the scene.
Source: Kait8
I often find myself wondering if my gun is loaded.
I could be on a bus or a in a bar and I just get to wondering.
It’s like random safety checks – which is way better than having a routine such that I always know the status.
Real professionals always know the exact status. Lives could depend on it.
Like this DEA agent. He was the only one in the room professional enough to have a gun, and put it in a holster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DcVRthVyRw
Tell me it was just a dangerous April Fools stunt please! Sort of – this is what you don’t do.
In my view this was grossly under penalized. I could see the three day suspension if there was no accidental discharge and he was discovered to have brought the firearm into a bar, in violation of department policy as the linked news article denotes.
But the degree of recklessness committed by the officer is in my view criminal. First, he had been consuming alcohol, probably in excess (but I don’t have the report to judge by). Then he doesn’t use any measure of proper firearms handling by if he had to check the gun to point it in a safe direction. And third it was luck that someone wasn’t killed or wounded when he shot it through a door. He also evaded the situation when he left.
I am not personally buying that he had to check to see if his Glock pistol was loaded. Checking a Glock pistol for being loaded can be done by swiping one’s finger over the the extractor which sticks out slightly when the pistol is loaded. It is flush when there is no round in the chamber. Alternately, the slide could be pulled back about three millimeters and one can see the brass colour of the back of the bullet. When the slide is pulled back it puts the pistol out of battery and it will not fire. To see if the magazine is fully loaded, all he would have to do is press the magazine release and pop it out an inch or two and look at the back to see if it was loaded (it has small holes in the back to show how many rounds it has inside).
There had to be a reason other that simply checking the pistol for being loaded in order for it to have fired.
One possibility I thought might have been the case was the officer sat down in the bathroom, drew the pistol from the holster while his leg was crossed or sticking out with the bottom of the foot 90 degrees upward and then put it back in but either the holster was worn and defective and when he shoved the pistol in the side of the holster pressed into the trigger guard and as he pushed it in, the trigger was pulled back and it discharged. This is unlikely though there have been incidents like this that happened and one maker of leather holsters had to recall them.
Still, the officer should have not put himself into that situation and used proper techniques. At the very least that is incontestable and certainly enough in my view for a higher degree of sanction for his recklessness.
Sling, Great writeup. I once had to give a report to a deputy. He paraphrased using similar language. I refused to sign it b/c it didn’t reflect what I said. I offered to write it myself but he refused, so we went back through it. What a mess by the time it said what I said.
raff, Shoot someone? Isn’t that a promotable offense? At least one for a commendation. Maybe after the vacat….. suspension.
Michael, I guess you don’t know the procedure for cops in LA.. WHAT TAB?
At least he didn’t skip out on his tab.
He lucked out … could have killed or maimed himself or someone else.
It may clarify things for you folks to know that Gonzales is between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, a total distance of 80 miles, and is closer to the latter which is home to Louisiana State University.
If I did this I would (rightly) lose my concealed carry license in addition to being criminally charged. This guy gets to continue carrying at all times on his job after displaying a horrifying lack of concern for the safety of the lowly “civilians” and himself and more or less gets three days off. Maybe I’m being unfair. He might have received a really harsh letter in his personnel file.
raff
This is Louisiana, so it depends entirely on who he shoots.
Gene H:
when you have had a few too many, those 2 way hinges can be hell.
There’s probably some sort of Panda – “Eats, shoots and leaves” angle to this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_%26_Leaves
Bron,
Because she was Judy Garland’s daughter? I never understood her appeal either.
As to the story proper, that door attacked him. It was clearly self-defense.
I would like to apologise for using the word “street” in my commemt above.
I meant of course “paved public thoroughfare”. I regret any confusion caused.
Please also note that absolutely did not mention people shooting off in the bathroom of a strip club.
If I was representing him…. Reasonsonable doubt as to the level of intoxication at the time of the alleged offense…..
So it wasn’t that he was happy to see her, he DID have a gun in his pants!
mespo:
remind me why she was popular.
Discharge his gun, once, into his knee……………
Yikes. Does he get a week’s suspension if he kills someone?
When police say things like…
…. everybody should be very worried.
We proceeded by vehicular means towards the suspect’s domicile. After coinciding the location of our vehicular transport with the street outside the postal identification of the domicile, we employed ambulatory means to arrive at the immediate vicinity of the hinged entry device. We conveyed an audible alert to the individual inside by means of depressing a cylindrical ……. zzzzzzzzzz