Officer Fires Weapon Accidentally
August 17, 2024
Los Angeles: A Los Angeles Police Department officer accidentally discharged a shotgun in the West Valley police parking structure on August 16, 2007.
At about 4:15 p.m., Officer Geoffrey Carlson was conducting a safety check prior to deploying the shotgun into the police vehicle when it accidentally fired one shot into the ceiling.
There were no injuries.
West Valley Detectives are handling the investigation.
Officer Carlson is 29 years old and has been with the Department for over 2 years.
the weasel says keep your finger off the trigger!!!
Posted by: wval weasel | August 17, 2024 at 10:29 PM
I remember when I was a Police Explorer back in the 80's there was two police officer, playing around inside their patrol, one the officer gun discharge. They both were susp for six month..
Posted by: Sam | August 18, 2024 at 08:56 PM
oops.
Posted by: Marc | August 19, 2024 at 08:58 PM
Wow how many safety rules did he break? First of all when do you rack a round in the shotgun? Less than two years on...7 months for academy..plus 12 months probation equals 19 months..so he is either a brand new p2 or he still was a p-1...
Posted by: Yikes | August 19, 2024 at 10:13 PM
Hate to be picky but the shotgun didn't accidentally shoot itself.
Posted by: JB | August 20, 2024 at 08:19 AM
If the LAPD brass is going to be posting these "firearms discharges" by officers for all to read, then let's be precise.
Firearms don't discharge "accidentally" (unless there is a mechanical problem with it). A digit has to press the trigger for a firearm to discharge. Therefore...........having one's digit where it doesn't belong at the time, causing a firearm to discharge is called a NEGLIGENT discharge. No accident here.
Posted by: B&WOp; | August 20, 2024 at 11:48 AM
This is one of the many things that makes us (Police Officers) look inept and idiotic.
I'am apart of the Tactical Shotgun Cadre with the LAPD, and I pride myself on weapon safety. Who on earth trained this Officer on weapon safety? This is the reason why I yell at my boots (Probationary Officers) on the importance of weapon safety and and the 6-point safety check of a Remington 870 shotgun.
He obviously loaded the shotgun prior to performing his safety check of the weapon, chambered a round, and fired when he was checking the firing pin. This was no accident. This was totally negligent in manner and very poor training. I hope this Officer realizes that he just made the rest of us look like fools.
Posted by: CODE ONE | August 21, 2024 at 10:55 PM
To the above poster:
It is an accident because the officer presumably did not *intend* to fire the weapon. That he may have been negligent in firing the weapon does not change the fact that it was an accident. Think about a traffic accident -- usually one of the drivers was negligent, but it is still referred to as an accident. So, the original post was correct.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 24, 2024 at 08:33 AM
Anonymous, get real. This was not an accident; the officer loaded, chambered and fired a round. This takes deliberate action, which in this case was totally negligent and stupid. This officer should be severely reprimanded and required to go back through firearms training.
Posted by: EZRA14 | August 24, 2024 at 03:45 PM
Anonymous, they haven't been referred as traffic accidents for years now, they are called collisions.
Posted by: CentralT/O | August 26, 2024 at 07:59 PM
Ha!
Posted by: JRuss | September 03, 2024 at 05:15 PM