Chestertown Police Chief Adrian Baker said a veteran officer is recovering from a “superficial” hand wound after a gun cleaning accident on Wednesday–and will return to light duty very soon.
Baker told the Spy that the officer had returned home from a routine qualification at the range and was cleaning his service revolver, as required by regulations, when a round left in the chamber accidentally discharged.
The officer was first seen at Chester River Hospital and then transported to Maryland Shock Trauma as a precautionary measure. The officer was released shortly after a minor surgical procedure.
Baker said the officer has full function of the wounded hand and can return from medical leave for light duty when the officer feels comfortable. He said the officer was still dealing with some pain.
Officers have three instances where cleaning their weapons is mandatory; after the weapon has been fired, if the weapon has been exposed to inclement weather, and once a month.
Baker said he could not release the officer’s name until an investigation by the Maryland State Police was complete.
He said the incident should serve as a reminder to always take extreme precautions with firearms.
“People should always be mindful to follow the cardinal rules of gun safety and always treat a gun as if it is loaded,” Baker said. “We can all learn from those times when a accident occurs and hopefully we won’t repeat it.”
Baker said accidents can still happen even when precautions have been taken.
Thomas E. Taylor says
In the early ’50s I was a qualified NRA instructor, and we had a rifle team at the Rock Hall High School. I am curious, are any of the Chestertown and Kent County law enforcement folks qualified instructors?? If so, are they holding any training sessions the general public could attend?? We had good support from both the State Police, the County Law people and the Rock Hall police as well as the community. I learned a lot from Sgt Walter Kulley (spell?), Wally Miller, and Cliff Simns (spell?). Most of our training was range oriented, and we punched a lot of holes in paper. However, the safety portion geared to the general handling of all firearms, hunting guns, rifles, pistols and revolvers. By the way the picture is a pistol, not a revolver and the dismanteling and cleaning are different. The hunter safety courses are great for those interested in hunting, but the ones I attended and helped with in the ’80s did not offer much help for anyone who likes competition rifle and pistol shooting. I am not a scatter gun shooter, so cannot comment about the training etc. at the shotgun clubs and ranges. I hope that firearm safety is taught to every younster, beginning as soon as they are physically able to pick a firearm up. Tom
joe diamond says
Thomas,
The state required Hunter Safety Course is just that. The emphasis is (was) just safe handling of firearms. Hunting regulations and a summary of frequently encountered hunter regulations was covered. It should not be confused with shooter training.
I think there is a place for another type of course for a non hunter introduction to firearms for school age kids. Before that you have to trust parents to keep kids safe. I recently saw a story in the Baltimore Sun showing how not to do it. Three city kids were doing something with a rifle when it went off killing one of their number. The mother of the kids helped hide the body in an alley. They hid the gun in the personal vehicle of a serving Baltimore police officer. (more details are available but skipped). Had the rifle been secured with a trigger lock there would be no story and a promising little girl would have had a chance to become a doctor some day.
Joe
J astrachan says
When I was certified as a NRA handgun instructor a decade ago, a grizzled shooter going through the course mentioned he had a freezer in his basement with a bullet hole in it. It no longer worked, but he kept it to remember how dangerous “unloaded” guns can be.