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Attorney fires gun in office
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Attorney fires gun in office
D.A. won't take action against Parker in accidental shooting
By KIM GILLILAND
Record Staff Writer
NEWTON - District Attorney David Flaherty Jr. says he won't take any action against Assistant District Attorney Jason Parker for accidentally firing his pistol in his office at the Catawba County Justice Center on Friday morning beyond making him pay for a broken window.
Parker, a candidate for district court judge, and Sean McGinnis, another assistant district attorney, were at the county firing range Friday morning brushing up on shooting skills, according to Flaherty. When they returned to Parker's office around 8 a.m., Parker's .380 semi-automatic accidentally discharged, according to Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
The bullet put a hole in a window overlooking the smoking area in front of the Justice Center. No one was injured.
"I am disappointed in him (Parker)," Flaherty said. "He is a friend and a good district attorney. I know he reported it immediately to those who were supposed to be made aware of the incident."
Flaherty said he put a note in Parker's personnel file, but no charges would be filed.
"The only thing I would consider charging Parker with is reckless endangerment, but the bullet traveled out the window, not into the building iteslf," said Flaherty. "I will make him pay for the plate glass window, however."
Flaherty, district attorney for the 25th Prosecutorial District, said he got a phone call from Parker around 8:15 a.m. on Friday saying that he accidentally fired a pistol in the office that was once used by Flaherty.
Reid said the handgun had a mechanical malfunction with the ejector slide.
Sheriff David Huffman said Parker turned the handgun over to authorities and asked that it be destroyed by the State Bureau of Investigation.
"I was on vacation when it happened, but I think that Parker was so shaken by the incident that he just wanted to get it out of his sight altogether," he said.
When someone asks to have a gun destroyed, the SBI checks the serial number to verify the history of the gun before destroying it.
Huffman said his department will also run a check on the weapon today.
Huffman said he assumed the pistol had been registered to Parker, but he was not sure.
"North Carolina law does not require a handgun to be registered with the state," said Huffman. "When you purchase a handgun, you must first fill out a permit to purchase, which asks for all the pertinent information, such as where you live, why you need the gun, etc. This is essentially the same information that registering a handgun would provide."
When asked about the legality of carrying a handgun into the courthouse, Flaherty said he saw no problem with it.
"We are law enforcement officers, and there is no problem with my assistants or me carrying guns," said Flaherty. "I carry one myself occasionally, although it is not concealed."
John Bason, public information officer for the state Attorney General's Office, disagrees with Flaherty's assessment of the law.
"Bottom line is, district attorneys or their assistants are not law enforcement officers.
Therefore, they must abide by the same statutes that apply to anyone else who is not a sworn officer of the law," said Bason.
Huffman agreed.
"I did not know that DA's were considered law enforcement officers. To be in law enforcement, you have to go to law enforcement school, even though I could swear you in right now."
Huffman said he has had several attorneys in the past request permission to bring a firearm into the courthouse for protection, but that the sheriff's office would assign an extra deputy instead.
Retired Superior Court Judge Oliver Noble said it was unwise and improper for Parker to bring a gun into the courthouse.
"I have never seen him with a gun," said Noble. "I don't know if that's against the law or not, and I have never seen anyone prosecuted for this. However, I have never heard of a law allowing a gun in a state office. If I were to guess, I would say there isn't."
As far as any charges that could have been filed, Huffman said that you have to look at each situation differently.
"We treated this as if it was an accident," said Huffman. "We don't condone bringing handguns into the courthouse by district attorneys. However, nobody was hurt, and the gun malfunctioned. You have to have some breathing room regarding the law. However, it is possible that I would go back and look at the situation further."
Reach Kim Gilliland at 322-4510, Ext. 249, or rgilliland@hickoryrecord.com.
http://www.hickoryrecord.com/MGBD8FEPM2D.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
D.A. won't take action against Parker in accidental shooting
By KIM GILLILAND
Record Staff Writer
NEWTON - District Attorney David Flaherty Jr. says he won't take any action against Assistant District Attorney Jason Parker for accidentally firing his pistol in his office at the Catawba County Justice Center on Friday morning beyond making him pay for a broken window.
Parker, a candidate for district court judge, and Sean McGinnis, another assistant district attorney, were at the county firing range Friday morning brushing up on shooting skills, according to Flaherty. When they returned to Parker's office around 8 a.m., Parker's .380 semi-automatic accidentally discharged, according to Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office.
The bullet put a hole in a window overlooking the smoking area in front of the Justice Center. No one was injured.
"I am disappointed in him (Parker)," Flaherty said. "He is a friend and a good district attorney. I know he reported it immediately to those who were supposed to be made aware of the incident."
Flaherty said he put a note in Parker's personnel file, but no charges would be filed.
"The only thing I would consider charging Parker with is reckless endangerment, but the bullet traveled out the window, not into the building iteslf," said Flaherty. "I will make him pay for the plate glass window, however."
Flaherty, district attorney for the 25th Prosecutorial District, said he got a phone call from Parker around 8:15 a.m. on Friday saying that he accidentally fired a pistol in the office that was once used by Flaherty.
Reid said the handgun had a mechanical malfunction with the ejector slide.
Sheriff David Huffman said Parker turned the handgun over to authorities and asked that it be destroyed by the State Bureau of Investigation.
"I was on vacation when it happened, but I think that Parker was so shaken by the incident that he just wanted to get it out of his sight altogether," he said.
When someone asks to have a gun destroyed, the SBI checks the serial number to verify the history of the gun before destroying it.
Huffman said his department will also run a check on the weapon today.
Huffman said he assumed the pistol had been registered to Parker, but he was not sure.
"North Carolina law does not require a handgun to be registered with the state," said Huffman. "When you purchase a handgun, you must first fill out a permit to purchase, which asks for all the pertinent information, such as where you live, why you need the gun, etc. This is essentially the same information that registering a handgun would provide."
When asked about the legality of carrying a handgun into the courthouse, Flaherty said he saw no problem with it.
"We are law enforcement officers, and there is no problem with my assistants or me carrying guns," said Flaherty. "I carry one myself occasionally, although it is not concealed."
John Bason, public information officer for the state Attorney General's Office, disagrees with Flaherty's assessment of the law.
"Bottom line is, district attorneys or their assistants are not law enforcement officers.
Therefore, they must abide by the same statutes that apply to anyone else who is not a sworn officer of the law," said Bason.
Huffman agreed.
"I did not know that DA's were considered law enforcement officers. To be in law enforcement, you have to go to law enforcement school, even though I could swear you in right now."
Huffman said he has had several attorneys in the past request permission to bring a firearm into the courthouse for protection, but that the sheriff's office would assign an extra deputy instead.
Retired Superior Court Judge Oliver Noble said it was unwise and improper for Parker to bring a gun into the courthouse.
"I have never seen him with a gun," said Noble. "I don't know if that's against the law or not, and I have never seen anyone prosecuted for this. However, I have never heard of a law allowing a gun in a state office. If I were to guess, I would say there isn't."
As far as any charges that could have been filed, Huffman said that you have to look at each situation differently.
"We treated this as if it was an accident," said Huffman. "We don't condone bringing handguns into the courthouse by district attorneys. However, nobody was hurt, and the gun malfunctioned. You have to have some breathing room regarding the law. However, it is possible that I would go back and look at the situation further."
Reach Kim Gilliland at 322-4510, Ext. 249, or rgilliland@hickoryrecord.com.
http://www.hickoryrecord.com/MGBD8FEPM2D.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
By MELISSA MOORE
mmoore@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer
A police officer was fired earlier this month for what was termed "unprofessional horseplay" with his pistol, according to police records.
Darren Bounds was in the shift sergeant's office at the Second District police station on April 29 when, according to his termination letter, "You drew your Department issued service weapon . and positioned the fully loaded weapon near the side of Officer Trey Walker's head."
Bounds, 27, was put on paid administrative leave the next day, according to another letter from Chief Pat Englade to him.
Bounds was fired June 5.
In the termination letter, Englade wrote that "although it is understood from your training that your fully loaded service weapon is not to be drawn except when the possibility exists that you may be required to use deadly force, you nevertheless unholstered and drew your weapon under the circumstances described above."
Englade fired Bounds for violating rules concerning conduct unbecoming an officer, respect of fellow members, carrying out orders and firearms handling, according to the letter.
During the May 23 pre-termination hearing before Englade, Bounds emphasized that he did not point the weapon at anyone, according to the termination letter.
Englade's letter said Bounds acknowledged that what he did "was, in your words 'severely wrong.' "
Attorney Charles Dirks, who represented Bounds during his pre-termination hearing, said Bounds has appealed his termination to the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.
Dirks said Bounds has no prior record of inappropriate weapons handling or other misconduct.
Bounds, hired in 1999, has one four-day suspension on his record.
That suspension, in 2001, was for failing to turn in police reports timely, according to the letter.
He also was formally reprimanded once for the same thing.
http://www.theadvocate.com/stories/061902/new_horseplay001.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
2002-06-19
by Jeffrey M. Barker
Journal Reporter
KENT -- An illegally mailed loaded rifle on its way to Alaska discharged yesterday morning at a U.S. Postal Service distribution hub in Kent.
No one was injured by the bullet that shot through a metal shipping container. But postal workers were shaken up enough to call out the Port of Seattle Bomb Squad about 2 a.m.
``There was a lot of concern about what could be in the package,'' said Postal Service spokesman Ernie Swanson.
The bomb squad detonated the package which contained the rifle, a .45-caliber handgun, ammunition and some fireworks, according to Kent police.
The package was addressed to a man in Anchorage, Alaska. The return address was under the same name and a Carson City, Nev. address, according to a Kent police report.
``It appears it was mailed in the Puget Sound area,'' said Tom Montgomery, a spokesman for the Postal Service.
Montgomery said investigators were trying to contact the addresses on the package and determine who sent it. The sender could face federal felony charges.
Only gun dealers and law enforcement or military agents can mail weapons. Even then, they must declare the weapon and must never have it loaded.
Anyone, however, can send a gun through United Parcel Service, Montgomery said.
The fireworks were also illegally mailed.
``Anything of pyrotechnic nature can never be mailable,'' Montgomery said. ``These things are being sent on planes.''
The Postal Service facility on Russell Road in Kent handles all Priority Mail that heads in and out of Western Washington, Swanson said.
http://www.southcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/96126
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
i am sure they destroyed the pistol.
aren't you?
barto
the hard stuff we do right away - the impossible takes a little longer
=================================
The only bad thing about choosing a Kimber ...
... there are so darn many models to choose from!
kimberkid@gunbroker.zzn.com
Edited by - kimberkid on 06/20/2002 08:41:26
? otherwise, you'll find an excuse.