Maplewood Police Report Explains How Child Fired Officer's Weapon At School
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Maplewood Police say they're making changes after a child was able to fire an officer's holstered weapon at an elementary school last month.
According to the police report, a school resource officer was in the gym of Harmony Learning Center on Feb. 5 with two adults and four students. The officer was sitting on a bench in the gym when a 9-year-old sitting next to him reached into his holster and pulled the trigger of the officer's gun, firing a round into the floor. Police say no one was injured in the incident.
On Tuesday, the department released the results of an investigation into the incident, saying officers would no longer use the brand and style of holster, which allowed access to the firearm's trigger. The department said they'd learned of similar incidents at other law enforcement agencies across the country involving the same holster.
The officer involved in the incident described the immediate aftermath in his report:
"I checked my holster again and visibly could not see any way the trigger could have been engaged. I then ran my trigger finger along the lower half of my holster and was able to squeeze my finger to the trigger guard of my duty weapon. This came as a great surprise to me because up until that point, I had complete confidence that this holster would keep my weapon secure under normal operating conditions."
The department released its findings to other local law enforcement agencies and organizations so that they could take the appropriate action as well, according to the report.
The city says there was a full investigation on the actions of the officer involved in the incident, but privacy laws wouldn't allow them to comment further.
