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Mamabudz

DEA agent shoots self in leg during gun-safety class for kids

By Pamela J. Johnson | Orlando Sentinel |Posted April 30 2004, 10:27 AM EDT

{A Note from MamaBudz, Moderator: This article is being posted by me for the sole purpose of highlighting that even a professional can be seriously injured by a firearm. It is also proof that DEA personnel can be channeled into proactive use outside the sphere of Marijuana Eradication. This is NOT an invitation to flame Law Enforcement Officers. Flames of that nature and Posters who post Flames of that nature will be have their Posts Deleted and continued actions of that kind will, I am sure, have more serious consequences for that Poster's future on this Board. Thank you for your attention...and have a cookie. )


ORLANDO -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating an incident in which one of its agents giving a presentation to Orlando-area children on gun safety shot himself in the thigh.

Orlando police investigators have ruled the April 9 shooting at The Callahan Center, 101 N. Parramore Ave., accidental, police Lt. Curley Bowman said Thursday night.

But DEA special agent Joe Kilmer said Thursday night that an internal investigation led by officials at the agency's headquarters in Washington was still ongoing. Kilmer would not release the name of the agent involved. After the agent was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center for a gunshot wound to his left thigh, he returned to work, Kilmer said.

Vivian Farmer, 52, was in a classroom at The Callahan Center with her 13-year-old nephew when the agent began his presentation about 7 p.m. Roughly 50 adults and children were present, and it was "standing room only," Farmer said Thursday night.

The presentation was part of a class called "The Game of Life, The Game of Golf," according to a police report. It was held by the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, which aims to introduce minority children to the sport. The agent was speaking to the youths about making good life choices and included a presentation on gun safety, according to the report.

During the speech, the agent drew his .40-caliber duty weapon and removed the magazine, the report said. He then pulled back the slide and asked a man in the audience to look inside the weapon to make sure it was not loaded, the report said.

"The person nodded that it didn't have ammunition," Farmer recounted. "The gun was never pointed at anyone."

Witnesses told police that the agent kept his gun pointed toward the floor and when he released the slide, the weapon fired one shot into the top of his thigh.

"The kids screamed and started to cry," Farmer recounted. "My first thought was that it was part of his presentation. I thought it was a blank and he was trying to make a point about how easy it is to fire, to get the kids' attention. But then I looked at the agent's face and he looked surprised. Then there was a quick grimace on his face of sudden pain.

"I thought, 'This isn't a joke. This is real.' "

Farmer said most people rushed out while an ambulance and police were arriving.

"Everyone was pretty shaken up," Farmer said. "But the point of gun safety hit home. Unfortunately, the agent had to get shot. But after seeing that, my nephew doesn't want to have anything to do with guns."

Pamela J. Johnson can be reached
at pjohnson@orlandosentinel.com
or 407-420-5171.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 

xxdr_zombiexx

During the speech, the agent drew his .40-caliber duty weapon and removed the magazine, the report said. He then pulled back the slide and asked a man in the audience to look inside the weapon to make sure it was not loaded, the report said.

"The person nodded that it didn't have ammunition," Farmer recounted. "The gun was never pointed at anyone."

Witnesses told police that the agent kept his gun pointed toward the floor and when he released the slide, the weapon fired one shot into the top of his thigh.

That's some safety professional.....

Obviously... there was one of those bullet-thingies still in the gun.

And to participate in the request to not dog the dea about this - here is an article about the DEA doing something right (for a change...not even one injury.)

__________________
Alien Space Signal

There's no money for your issue so long as we're squandering $50 billion a year on the DrugWar. Ben Masel

Fear became the ultimate tool of this government - V.

liteundrdadoor

that just goes to prove that even a trained professional can make a serious mistake with a firearm.I bet the shell was stuck to the back of the slide
2 things i think could have affected the outcome:
i personally was taught to NEVER take a persons word for it that a gun was clear.
going to demonstrate to children, i dont think i would have had a shell in the chamber.
(hope this is ok mamabudz)

__________________
---------------------LITE
join the NRA today before gun laws end up where MJ laws are now

releafer

Well Mama...I can teach my kids gun safety...I can have sex talks with my children.....I don't need to send my kids to school to witness violence by careless police personnel. Why have a loaded weapon around children in a demonstration on safety.....thats like having them put a condom on a dildo.

My question is...Why is the DEA teaching gun safety? Why isn't it a Hunter?
Will the DEA teach sex safety next? It seems as a moderator you need to be removed for suggesting that this isn't rediculus and absurd behaviour for any adult. If you can't slam the DEA....why have this system of response to the LAWS utterly idiotic arm of some fake government.

Sounds like Mama is stroking law enforcement and has never been close to being "BOOTJACKED"! This is my last visit to a Police -run marihuana entrapment site....thanks for the warning.........

MAMA....you can delete me...your nuts!....I volenteer to send my children to a school in hopes that they respect me and give proir warning that this could be a possibility that they will teach imperalism to my liberal family. My opportunity for a safe life depends on each others trust...LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS NEVER BEEN RESPONSIBLE WHEN THEY ENFORCE LAWS THAT ARE WRONG! ***k all police...The blue meanie intruders on a dailey basis.

You better get on the same side of free speech and stop your censorship...mama...here's a quote from Mr. Tony Serra...the ultimate Lawyer.."My sustenance is drugs and murder. I’ll try any political case that comes along. If you kill a cop, I’ll pay to take the case." -- Attorney Tony Serra (Am. Law News Service)

And remind Mama that HANDGUNS are only used to kill people...and I'm sure a few of those children realized that whether you wanted them too or not!

Try teaching reading, writing and arithmatic...I could use some spelling help! and leave the rest to the parents so they at least have some involvement.

xxdr_zombiexx

I grew up with that rule too.

I was aghast at the line he asked somebody to look into the gun - I certainly HOPE it wasn't the barrel end. It couldn't be, could it? One does have to wonder......

And yeah... with children in the room - in a school - the gun should have been totally unloaded before they started such a class.

 

liteundrdadoor

speaking of the negative aspects of the event ,and voicing a comment or opinion is one thing. your statement below,no matter how true or how true you think it is,this is exactly what mamabudz meant . this isnt a "bash the DEA" thread, no matter how bad it is.

Jose Melendez

I agree that the poor guy just made a mistake. That said, I'm interested to hear how pulling the trigger of a gun, unloaded or otherwise, should be part of an indoor classroom gun safety 'class'.

Also, it would seem that such displays are actually youth recruitment and political advertising campaigns.

When the laws prohibiting marijuana, alcohol or other contraband are publicly and in court shown to have been illegally implemented and exponentially counter productive, drug warriors at all levels will be free to fight real crimes, and otherwise law abiding free citizens of this country will be more willing to assist in that endeavor without fear of repercussion.

Wage peace, all. Thanks for the cookie.

JTP

Classic case of negligent discharge . The guys is giving a class to the suppossed firearms ignorant, yet he trusts them to ensure a clear chamber. Goes to show - treat all firearms as if they are loaded until the weapon is cleared personally.

Unreal.

Hiz Highness

I wonder which McDonalds that DEA agent will be working at now. I've never ordered a Big Mac and fries from the man before.


-HH

Niteshift

Why is the DEA teaching gun safety? Why isn't it a Hunter?

It is my understanding, based on talking to a friend at Oragne County SO that the agent was not on duty and not there as part of her DEA duties. Instead, she had been involved with the Youth Golf Assoc. and was asked to do it through her involvement there, not because the "DEA is teaching firearms safety".


As for the rest of releafer's post, I'll refrain from answering it.

__________________
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Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.