In a case of what might be severe firearms safety negligence on the part of six officers of the law in the Indian district of Mainpuri, one of their fellow officers was handling a service handgun when he accidentally discharged a single round into the room. An earlier account mentions seven wounded but a separate article published the day afterward states six. From the same earlier article it mentioned that the handgun was s revolver. Unfortunately for the other officers, the interior of the room was made out of wood. The bullet appears to have caused enough splinters from the impact (or a ricochet as the article suggests) that several officers were lightly wounded due to the flying debris. One of them suffered a facial injury that probably could have taken out his eyesight had the splinter been closer. According to the article, the Inspecter who fired the round was actually from a different police district or station, and was at a police armory when the incident occurred.

From the article-

Seven policemen including a senior sub-inspector (SSI) of police sustained bullet injuries when the service revolver of an police out-post in-charge allegedly went off accidentally at Kotwali policestation in Mainpuri district on Wednesday.

 All six were admitted to district hospital and are said to be out of danger.

Police sources told TOI, Ganeshpur Burj police out-post incharge Satendra Pal, who was allegedly sent to lines over dereliction of duty on Tuesday by SSP Ajay Shankar Rai, on Wenesday had come to deposit his service revolver at Kotwali police statiopn when the gun went off accidentally. “SSI RK Singh Bhadauria and six other policemen sustained bullet injuries,” Police sources said further.

How much of what actually happened is being reported (or covered up) we just don’t know. But what we do know is that this accident serves as a sober reminder to take those three cardinal rules seriously. Equally as important is the issue of complacency. Granted, I’m not sure how hard the shooting qualifications are to be a police officer in Mainpuri, but these were still armed professionals, in a very secure setting, turning in their handguns, and manage to have a negligent discharge. The culprit officer could have easily ended one of his colleague’s lives, and if anything almost did permanently blind one of the officers that was wounded.

Let this not be a lesson as to the absurdity of having a negligent discharge while being employed as a armed professional, but instead a caution to the dangers of complacency, which anyone can become a victim of if not careful.

Sources:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/seven-policemen-including-an-ssi-injured-after-service-revolver-went-off-accidentally-in-mainpuri/articleshow/64663681.cms

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/six-policemen-injured-in-accidental-gunfire-by-colleague/articleshow/64670535.cms