The firearms instructor for the Hewitt Police Department is recovering from surgery after accidentally shooting himself in the left hand while teaching family members to shoot.
Sgt. Heath Vanek will miss at least two months of work while rehabilitating from surgery to repair a wound from his personal 9mm pistol, Hewitt Police Chief Jim Devlin said.
The incident occurred July 15 on Vanek’s family property near the McLennan and Falls county lines and did not involve any Hewitt-issued guns or equipment.
Devlin said Vanek, 35, declined comment Friday about his accidental injury.
The chief went on to day that Vanek was teaching a family member how to clear a chamber after jamming, when he was shot in the hand.
“He said, ‘I made a classic mistake,’ ” Devlin said. “We are human, too. We are not infallible. We make mistakes, and when we mess up, we mess up and do our best to correct it and get back to giving the public the best service we can.”
Yeah and if this kind of thing can happen to a trained professional, who has been a police firearms instructor for five years, just imagine how often it can happen when more and more people are encouraged to own handguns and are told repeatedly that doing so will keep them safe.
Remember accidental shootings do not always hit just the hand, or the person handling the weapon.
Guns kill, and though they may not kill all on their own, it certainly does not take much encouragement before they perform the function that they were created to perform.
Wanna bet all these maimed people eventually look to their government to take care of them via the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability program?
ReplyDeleteBut if the RWNJs have their way, that safety net will disappear because "our government is broke".
....Yeah, broken because the RWNJs have thrown wrenches in just about every aspect of good government.
Minor typo in the post title:
ReplyDeletePolice firearms instructor will miss two months of work after >shooing< himself during lesson.
Thanks.
DeleteThough shooing himself would have been safer.
Honestly, the first thing I learned moving from the city to the country (20 yrs ago) was that gun owners in no way resemble the caricatures I grew up learning to hate. If anyone should get this it should be an Alaskan blogger.
ReplyDeleteI've had guns pulled on me three times, been shot at once, and cannot even count the number of times some punk threatened to put a bullet in my head,
DeleteI also identified the body of a friend who had been blown in half by a shotgun blast.
I know plenty about our so-called gun culture.
It is far worse than the "caricature."
Really? A recent visit to a party at a relative's showed me that 'country' gun owners are everything like the charicature I've seen. Alcohol and firearms do not mix, and I could not wait to leave after the neighbors started shooting on their property, after having been at the relatives' for several hours drinking beer after beer. I stayed in the house for most of the half hour we were there afterwards, and could not wait to leave. Imagine my happiness when I found a loaded (!) rifle behind the bedroom door when I grabbed my purse from it's hiding place.
DeleteI grew up in the country. I learned how to shoot before riding a bicycle. Fuck, I was riding ponies bareback before riding bikes. I own several shotguns for hunting waterfowl. All of my children know how to shoot and practice skeet and trap.
DeleteI have had to to disarm two dickheads in public, one in a restaurant and and one in a public park. Both had just received their carry permits and were out to set the world straight. Both were white men and, I shit you not, were threatening women of color.
Women! (It blows my mind, truly)
I am a Republican but a regular here, because I agree with the blog owner.
The gun culture is out of control.
Gee, I wonder if he learned his lesson...probably not.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a classic mistake, he's only human and not infallable! He's a five year gun safety instructor for the police, it happens all the time, nothing to see here...... LMAO.
ReplyDeleteNot just a run of the mill "accident", this one is a "classic" accident.
He should taken the NRA hunter safety course in high school. I think that's the course where you learn where to point the weapon safely.
ReplyDeleteImportant lesson to learn; if trained professionals can't handle guns safely, how can Bubba Six-Pack?
ReplyDeleteHow many accidental shootings are truly accidental?
ReplyDeleteThis guy is an idiot and should not be training police officers anymore.