Police Officer Shoots Toddler While Cleaning Gun

[Alonzo]

NEW YORK (AP) _ A police officer who wounded a toddler when he accidentally fired a shot through the floor of his Brooklyn apartment was cleaning his gun in dim lighting because his electricity had been turned off, according to his brother.

Officer Patrick Venetek, who had less than two years experience on the force, was stripped of his gun and placed on modified duty while the department investigates the Feb. 7 incident, authorities said.

His brother told reporters Friday that the officer had set his gun down on a table, and then accidentally knocked it to the floor when he returned to the room.

The gun discharged, firing a bullet that passed into the apartment below and hit 1{-year-old Jonathan Porcellini in the arm.

The lights were off because the pair, who are roommates, couldn't pay their bills, the brother said. The Police Department said Venetek makes about $34,000 per year. In New York, many families pay that much annually in rent.

The injured child was treated at a hospital and released. The wound was not life-threatening, but his family is still angry.

"Just a few more inches and I could have lost my son," said his father, Justin Porcellini. "This is a city employee, a cop. They are supposed to be safe. I want people to know that what happened was wrong."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--straypolicebullet0209feb09,0,5070622.story

[Labrocca]

He should be suspended without pay for a couple weeks. Seems like a legit accident but obviously he should be penalized. I am sure the family is already talking with lawyers.

[Pookie]

Geez! This would probably not have happened if cops were to get paid more! Maybe he could have seen better if he had electricity. I feel for both the family and the cop, and I agree with Lab on this one.
Put it on your calendar, Labrocca! We agree, OMG!
Thank God the little boy wasn't killed.
Purrs,
Pookie

[apdst]

He should be fired. Anyone that stupid has no business wearing a badge and carrying a gun.

[jafar00]

The solution is simple. Make sure Police hand their guns in at the armoury where they are safely locked away before they go home from their shift like they do in most civilised countries.

[Cobra]

Well they're still expected to protect and serve even off duty and you can't really do that out gunned by the bad guy you come across trying to say rob a convience store. Pretty stupid, but accidents happen.

[apdst]

Make sure Police hand their guns in at the armoury where they are safely locked away before they go home from their shift like they do in most civilised countries.

Cops are never off duty, so that won't work.

[potter]

Geez! This would probably not have happened if cops were to get paid more! Maybe he could have seen better if he had electricity. I feel for both the family and the cop, and I agree with Lab on this one.
Put it on your calendar, Labrocca! We agree, OMG!
Thank God the little boy wasn't killed.
Purrs,
Pookie



I'm going to disagree with you this once Pookie. This robably wouldn't have happened if he'd taken more care when handling his gun. The electricity is just an excuse for his carelessness IMO.

[AlanC]

I don't know how this happened. But I do know that the officer is being less than open about it. As he descibed it, it would be impossible for the gun to have discharged through the floor.

The only way for any gun to discharge accidentally from being dropped or falling off a table is for force to be applied to the back of the weapon. That would result in a shot directed up, not down. Additionally, all modern firearms use safety mechanisims to prevent that from happening.

I wonder if anyone checked his holster for a hole or powder burns that should not be there. Practicing a "fast draw" would have the potential for an accidental discharge going down into the floor.

[cronic]

Geez! This would probably not have happened if cops were to get paid more!

I agree with that Pookie.. I believe $34,000 a year isnt enough for a police officer.


He should be fired. Anyone that stupid has no business wearing a badge and carrying a gun.


lol.. omg,... I agree with you apdst.. like pookie telling Labrocca to put her and his agreeableness on the calender.. maybe we should do the same..haha.
Seriously tho, and I do realize accidents happen, the real point here is safety itself...I started learning gun safety at the age of 9 when I began hunting..the main thing I was taught was respect the gun and what it can do. One would think a police officer / adult would not do anything so stupid as to clean his gun in dim lighting or especially with his gun loaded. At 9 years old I can not say I would be as smart as any police officer or any gun handler for that matter. But even at that age, and I did clean my gun after every hunt or target day, I knew then that you make sure your gun is unloaded first and foremost before you cleaned your gun.. If he would have had his gun fall out of his holster or even drop out of his hand.. that may be a different story.. but cleaning it?.. no way, thats inexcusable and stupid!

[Buck Laser]

He should be suspended without pay for a couple weeks. Seems like a legit accident but obviously he should be penalized. I am sure the family is already talking with lawyers.

Only a fool "cleans" a weapon when it's loaded.

[brien]

The solution is simple. Make sure Police hand their guns in at the armoury where they are safely locked away before they go home from their shift like they do in most civilised countries.


No can do because all cops are required to have their firearms while off duty in case of an emergency.

This cop was clearly negligent because he was cleaning his firearm while loaded. This is DUMB. I don't know how you deal with dumb, except maybe to file a complaint with the union, cite him for gross negligence, and have the injured party compensated through a court of law.

Perhaps this wasn't an accident at all. Perhaps the guy fired the gun through the floor in a fit of rage? Seems to me, the % of the round going directly through the floor into the apt below is very high. What are the chances of the firearm falling directly upon its barrel?

[Labrocca]

The solution is simple. Make sure Police hand their guns in at the armoury where they are safely locked away before they go home from their shift like they do in most civilised countries.


Many lives are saved and crimes prevented by off-duty cops having their firearm.

And yes..only a fool cleans a loaded weapon. The guy is lucky he didn't blow his own head off. It just sounds like one of those stupid accidents. Because it involved a gun doesn't mean guns are bad. People slip and get more injured in the bathtub...do we stop taking showers?

[Pookie]

I've cleaned many guns in my life, and I just have one question: If you try to clean a gun when it's loaded, wouldn't you notice it's loaded BEFORE it goes off?
I don't get it!
Purrs,
Pookie

[ViolaLee]

He should be fired. Anyone that stupid has no business wearing a badge and carrying a gun.
Boy do we agree on that! Any cop who doesn't know how to safely clean a gun should be fired on the spot.

[Go Fish]

There's some lyin' goin' here...... :fight:

I clean my weapon after every use, and even if I had a revolver I'd still have to remove all rounds before I could do so. It's not just that it's stupid to try to clean a loaded weapon, it's that you can't get a bore brush down the barrel all the way with round in the chamber.
Sounds like the guy was pissed off that he couldn't watch MTV and busted a cap to emphasize his displeasure.
He needs to be fired and tried for whatever the local statutes permit.

[Keith Hamburger]

I have to agree with Pookie and Go Fish. To clean a gun you disassemble it. In order to disassemble it you generally have to unload it.

Also, whoever said they don't understand how a gun falling with the barrel down can go off is completely correct. There is some rumors of people dropping a gun and the gun falling on the hammer on a hard surface and it going off, but, then, the barrel would be pointed up, not down.

There's a lot wrong with this whole story. I just can't see how it could happen in such a way.

But, we all know that the police protect their own in all instances, a cop would have to be extremely dirty and turn on his fellow police for personal advantage to be found to be in the wrong. I imagine nothing will come of this other than a possible slap on the wrist.

Keith

[Go Fish]

I do, however, know a certain pilot who shot a Resusci-Annie doll through his own stupidity. No, I'm not naming names, but if you read "Punk's War" by Ward Carroll, there are some clues.

[apdst]

It's been my experience that, "it went off while I was cleaning it", interprets as, "I was playing with it and the fucker went off."

When I handle a gun, I open the action. Someone hands me a gun, I open the action. I hand a gun to someone, I open the action.

My dad always used to tell me when I was a kid, "there's no such thing as an unloaded gun".[hr]To clean a gun you disassemble it. In order to disassemble it you generally have to unload it.

A semi-automatic can be disassembled while loaded. However, anyone that is stupid enough to disassemble a gun, without clearing it first, is too stupid to own a gun, much less carry a gun for a living.

If I were the lifegaurd of the gene pool, this guy would definitely get kicked out of the pool.

[Keith Hamburger]

When I handle a gun, I open the action. Someone hands me a gun, I open the action. I hand a gun to someone, I open the action.

Well, don't open the action on any of mine all the way without dropping the magazine first. For my semi-automatic weapons, and my pump shotgun, I don't keep a round in the chamber and if you were to open the action you just might accidentally load it.

My revolvers always have all chambers loaded. You certainly should check those carefully before you handle them.

But, cleaning a semi-automatic pistol first requires dropping the magazine, opening the chamber, then beginning disassembly. Cleaning a revolver involves opening the cylinder, at which point you should probably remove all the ammo. Since the front of the cylinder gets lots of crud on it, you can't really do any cleaning without opening it.

Keith

[apdst]

[quote]But, cleaning a semi-automatic pistol first requires dropping the magazine, opening the chamber, then beginning disassembly. Cleaning a revolver involves opening the cylinder, at which point you should probably remove all the ammo. Since the front of the cylinder gets lots of crud on it, you can't really do any cleaning without opening it.[/quoet]

That further supports me contention that it went off while I was cleaning it is a piss poor excuse for an accidental discharge.

[Go Fish]

I think we've gotten to the important aspect: You don't handle a weapon without knowing what its status is. This guy clearly went through training, so he's guilty all the way around.

[Osborn F. Enready]

I would bet since this person was a policeman, they probably just finished cleaning it, loading it and forgot or neglected to put the safety on, or de-cocking.

I thought I read it was knocked off a table, so that could explain the misfire on a badly worn, neglected or very-lightly tuned trigger mechanism if it was left loaded and cocked.

Regardless, pretty sloppy and absent minded for a policeman, which is never reassuring.

[Go Fish]

Condition notwithstanding, guns don't shoot themselves. He pulled the trigger.

[Buck Laser]

Condition notwithstanding, guns don't shoot themselves. He pulled the trigger.

That's just wrong. I've seen a couple of badly worn .22 rifles fire unexpectedly when they were jostled or moved. In the one case I have personal knowledge of, the sear, the part which moves away from the firing pin when the trigger is pulled, was worn and dirty so it didn't fully engage the firing pin. So guns do shoot themselves sometimes.

This is just one of the reasons why I always keep my guns and ammunition in separate and locked parts of the house.

[Go Fish]

Okay, a guy who depends on his firearm to save his life was cleaning a rickety POS handgun and it accidentally went off and shot a kid in the arm.
Fish done.