Retired police officer accidentally fires gun, floods Fort Pierce apartment

[Blitz1]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/tcoast/epaper/2008/08/05/0805slgun.html


Tuesday, August 05, 2008

FORT PIERCE — A retired Riviera Beach police officer called the police Monday to report he accidentally fired his personal rifle while working on it at his apartment, and the bullet stuck a water line, flooding his apartment, according to a police report.

No one was injured and while the bullet passed through a bathroom and kitchen in Robert Myers' Treasure Cay Drive apartment, it did not leave his unit, according to the police report.

Myers, 57, a 25-year retired veteran of the Riviera Beach police department, told police he was working on the AR-15 rifle while installing an optical sight and inserted what he thought was an empty magazine. But, he actually inserted a magazine with 10 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition. He accidentally fired one round, which struck the water line for fire sprinklers and flooded his apartment with 3 to 4 inches of water.

Police noted the wall between Myers' and other apartments is concrete. Officers checked and found no bullet damage or flooding in any other units, the report states.

 

[squirt]

How does one accidentally use a loaded clip?

 

[tele_mark]

Sounds like he accidentally forgot to put his glasses on too.

 

[Scrivener]

How is a magazine - loaded or otherwise - required to install a sight?

 

[Bob P]

I like reading this stuff because it reminds me that anyone can do something stupid - and thus makes me a lot more careful when I'm handling my own guns.

 

[C-pher]

How does one accidentally use a loaded clip?

How is a magazine - loaded or otherwise - required to install a sight?

That was my question?

 

[Scrivener]

That was my question?

Well - was it or wasn't it?

 

[TomH]

Always assume a gun is loaded! Always assume a magazine is loaded!

 

[C-pher]

Well - was it or wasn't it?

LOL! Yea, wrong punctuation... But it was...I wasn't able to figure out how a clip would fit into an AR15...let alone why you would need it to install a sightn.

 

[M1911]

How does one accidentally use a loaded clip?

<pedant_mode>
You can't insert a loaded clip into an AR15. You can insert a loaded magazine into an AR15.

An AR15 magazine:

AR15 clips:

Clips are what you use to load magazines.
</pedant_mode>

 

[RIFLEMAN1000]

Maybe it was one of those new fangled magazine mounted sniper scopes that i hear all those military types talking about. NOT

 

[strangenh]

The more of these stories I read, the more I wonder whether almost every "I was cleaning it and it just went off" story I have ever heard is hokum to cover up what should really have been, "I was horsing around with a loaded firearm and put my booger hook on the bang switch."

 

[clinotus]

If the sighting was done with a bipod, he might have installed the magazine to see how its height sat with the rifle prone.

 

[Dench]

If the sighting was done with a bipod, he might have installed the magazine to see how its height sat with the rifle prone.

that doesnt explain how the bolt was either cycled fully or released forward then the trigger was pulled.

 

[C-pher]

that doesnt explain how the bolt was either cycled fully or released forward then the trigger was pulled.

This doesn't explain why in the f**k he would pull the trigger... As Scriv pointed out...putting on a sight....

 

[Chris]

Maybe he had an AD playing around and made up a story.

Or is that too far fetched?

 

[Scrivener]

Maybe he had an AD playing around and made up a story.

Or is that too far fetched?

Sounds dead-on to me.

 

[delgrifith]

The poor old man probably didn't want the AR to be unloaded, Fort Pierce/Riviera Beach are not the nicest parts of Florida!

 

[ephemeratta]

How is a magazine - loaded or otherwise - required to install a sight?

How else would you be able to pull a proper Travis Bickle after installing a new sight without a mag, cycled bolt, and finger squarely on the trigger?
I'll bet if the officers looked hard enough they'd find a bullet hole in a mirror somewhere.

 

[Scrivener]

I'll bet if the officers looked hard enough they'd find a bullet hole in a mirror somewhere.

BEHIND a mirror, more likely.

 

[Martlet]

How is a magazine - loaded or otherwise - required to install a sight?

In order to properly align the sight, you must look down the barrel. Inserting a magazine gives your right hand more support, allowing your left hand to hold the pistol grip. If you can't extend the barrel far enough from your face to get proper alignment, you can insert your left thumb into the trigger guard and use it to push forward, after you rotate that stupid safety out of your way. Charging the firearm first adds the perfect balance for this technique.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Maybe he had an AD playing around and made up a story.

Or is that too far fetched?

Yup. Just like every "It went off when I was cleaning it" story.

A couple of months ago, a woman in a basic pistol class that I was teaching remarked that she was a little apprehensive about cleaning a gun because "they always seem to go off then".

 

[Raoul Duke]

Yup. Just like every "It went off when I was cleaning it" story.

A couple of months ago, a woman in a basic pistol class that I was teaching remarked that she was a little apprehensive about cleaning a gun because "they always seem to go off then".

The thing about the "I was cleaning it and it went off" excuse is that it doesn't actually exonerate one from the charge of "Stupid" In fact, it's sort of like explaining to the officer that you didn't mean to run into the school bus full of kids but the thing is that you were drunk so it was kinda hard to avoid it."

The salient question is not "why/how did it go off?" But rather "why was it loaded when you were doing X to it

x= anything other than shooting it or storing it.