In a Brevard County, Florida incident that is being reported as an accidental shooting, one sheriff’s deputy shot and killed another while the two were playing the video game Call of Duty.  According to the report, Deputy Andrew Lawson, 22, pulled the trigger twice on a Glock pistol while aiming it at his roommate, Austin Walsh, age 23. He believed the gun was unloaded.

Investigators said Lawson, 22, was “playing with a firearm” when he told them he pointed a Glock 34 9mm pistol at Walsh that he believed was unloaded and pulled the trigger. “The firearm did not go off, and Lawson manipulated the firearm by pulling the slide back,” the report said. “Lawson again pointed the firearm at Walsh as he pulled the trigger a second time.”

The local Sheriff called the incident an “extremely dumb and totally avoidable accident.”

“All police officers should abide by the cardinal rule that if you either have a real firearm or what appears to be a real firearm, that you treat it with the safety mechanism of not pointing it at someone unless you intend to shoot them, ever,” a police consultant told a reporter.  It is unclear that this safety rule is a “safety mechanism” and whether the rule should be enhanced to prevent accidents by a robust and highly visible loaded chamber indicator on all police handguns.

            A sheriff’s office Facebook post said the following:

Deputy Austin Walsh was 23 years old and was a treasured member of our BCSO Family!!  Austin served as a member of our agency since he was 18 and prior to that served for several years as a member of our Explorers program.  At this time, we ask that you keep Austin, his family, our agency, and our entire community in your thoughts and prayers as we collectively face the most difficult of times!!

There is an ongoing investigation.

Source:

Eric Rogers, “Deputy Charged in Shooting Death Pulled Trigger Twice on Gun He Thought Was Unloaded, Report Says,” Florida Today (December 6, 2022).

Sheriff Wayne Ivey, Facebook Post (December 3, 2022).