Oct 6, 2017 at 7:07 pm | Print View

ANAMOSA — Anamosa Police Chief Bob Simonson was injured last month when his rifle accidentally discharged during a call for service.

According to Jones County Sheriff Greg Graver, Simonson and a Jones County deputy responded to a 911 call at 2376 County Road E28 on Sept. 23. The caller reported a man was threatening another person with a gun.

Graver said when authorities arrived on the scene, the suspect, 68-year-old Marvin Hunter, of Martell, was still on the scene. Hunter was taken into custody and now faces one count of first-degree burglary, a Class B felony.

While the deputy was interviewing two people at the scene, Simonson was with Hunter, Graver said. Graver said Simonson had his AR-15 rifle slung over his shoulder to his left side and the barrel was pointing toward the ground. The weapon discharged and struck Simonson in the foot, Graver said.

“We believe it may have caught something on his belt,” Graver said.

The bullet went through the side of Simonson’s boot and hit his foot, Graver said. Simonson suffered a soft tissue injury, but did not break any bones. Graver said Simonson was treated at the hospital and released.

A Jones County Sheriff’s Office investigator went to the scene to investigate the discharge. Graver said between Simonson’s testimony and body camera footage taken from the deputy, it was determined the discharge was accidental.

Graver said Simonson has been off full duty while he recovers, but did recently attend a funeral for a former Anamosa police officer. Simonson will be on light duty until he is recovered, Graver said.

city of 5,000 people with its own Police Dept.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

...“We believe it may have caught something on his belt,” Graver said...

Could the safety also be disengaged that way? I've never handled an AR, so I'm seriously wondering. My experience is with an HK-91 and an M-1 Garand, and I suspect the Garand safety could catch on something.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
city of 5,000 people with its own Police Dept.

Not uncommon. Within my county alone, there are 7 outlying small towns with under 5k population that each have their own police departments. A couple of these have less than 2k population.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
Could the safety also be disengaged that way? I've never handled an AR, so I'm seriously wondering.

It's possible. The safety on an AR consists of a selector lever on the side of the receiver (somewhat similar to your HK91). But the chances of something snagging the safety just right, and then snagging the trigger just right, are pretty minimal.

Blame lies firmly with the guy behind the trigger...

yes, the selector could have been flicked to "Fire"

yes, something could have gotten into the trigger guard

but the HUMAN was the one who decided to chamber a round.

I was a cop for 18 years and a sailor for 21...we carried rifles and shotguns in both...and in both we were required to carry them "Cruizer safe" meaning loaded magazine but no round in the chamber....you chambered the round when you were going to fire...

And immediatly after figuring out that you were not going to shoot someone, you downloaded the weapon. This is policy in every department I've ever asked...

So my guess is that police boy responded to the call, chambered a round and then realized that the rifle wasn't needed and he forgot to download the weapon.....and that is all his fault...he owns it.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

...“We believe it may have caught something on his belt,” Graver said...

Could the safety also be disengaged that way?

Absolutely, and once the firing selector has been moved to the “fire” position, it’s easy for something to contact the single action trigger of the rifle to cause a discharge.

This is not the only such incident I’ve read about, and it’s why during patrol rifle classes I stress the need to be aware of the possibility. We call bolt forward, chamber empty the “cruiser ready” condition and if the rifle can’t be controlled properly because one’s hands and attention are involved in something other than being ready to shoot, that’s the way it should be. I specifically tell officers that if they have to climb a ladder, move or crawl into a confined space, or are doing something similar, that they should remove the magazine, empty the chamber, close the bolt, and then lock in a loaded magazine.

One stage of our patrol rifle qualification course involves chambering a round after the start signal to reinforce the fact that the chamber should be empty under some circumstances.

[quote]This is not the only such incident I’ve read about, and it’s why during patrol rifle classes I stress the need to be aware of the possibility. We call bolt forward, chamber empty the “cruiser ready” condition and if the rifle can’t be controlled properly because one’s hands and attention are involved in something other than being ready to shoot, that’s the way it should be. I specifically tell officers that if they have to climb a ladder, move or crawl into a confined space, or are doing something similar, that they should remove the magazine, empty the chamber, close the bolt, and then lock in a loaded magazine.

One stage of our patrol rifle qualification course involves chambering a round after the start signal to reinforce the fact that the chamber should be empty under some circumstances.[/quote


Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to explain this issue and reinforce importance of not becoming complacent.

My AR's don't have ambi safeties, so I've always made it a point to sling it to my left side when pointed downward.

Thanks for the opinions on the safety, guys. With as many AR's as there are out there, I guess it's bound to happen occasionally.

We don't train to unload to deal with obstacles or situations. If the rifle comes out, it comes out hot. We do actually train in climbing fences and going through windows with a loaded rifle . However, in this scenario the officer would be at fault for us. As soon as the rifle is not needed for us we are supposed to put it up.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
city of 5,000 people with its own Police Dept.

And a State prison.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
city of 5,000 people with its own Police Dept.

As stated earlier not uncommon at all.

The article does not mention a time that the incident occurred but it states the Chief was on the call with a County deputy. If it was a night call I bet the chief is the only member of the department if it was during the day he probably has 1 other officer that works nights.

There are tons of 1 and 2 man departments across the country.

Their website says they have 7 full time officers.

A department must be "all in" with training when deciding to have patrol rifles. Unfortunately some agencies do not put the training time in. This frightens me. The rifle should be cruiser safe in the car but locked and loaded when deployed, then back to cruiser safe when the danger has passed. The user should always be aware of the condition of the safety selector. I suspect poor training and unfamiliarity in safely carrying a slung rifle and probably not a lot of thought or training on the choice of sling design.

quote:

A department must be "all in" with training when deciding to have patrol rifles.

especially when its the head officer in charge.

While I appreciate all of the talk about what "should" have been done with the rifle and what condition it "should" have been in, there's a lack of information in the article to really figure it out.

Was the gun being toted off safe? Did the safety become disengaged and trigger depressed both by gear on a belt? Did the user grab the gun by the trigger to adjust it's slung position? Not enough information to determine.

My agency and all of those whose policies and procedures I am familiar with want the rifle chambered and safety on anytime the gun is outside of the rack. Also keep in mind that this is rural Iowa and it's very possible the rifle was still slung because the patrol car was a considerable distance away.