New Jersey Ex-Cop Killed In Apparent Gun Accident
By Associated Press
March 27, 2007
JERSEY CITY — A retired Jersey City police officer died yesterday at a city police building when a handgun discharged as he was cleaning it, police said.
Robert J. McGillis Jr., 53, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after noon, police said.
The shooting appeared to be accidental, police said.
A preliminary investigation found that McGillis was cleaning the large-caliber handgun at the time of the accident.
nobody heard the shot?
Mar 26, 7:08 PM EDT
Retired Jersey City cop dies from gunshot in apparent accident
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- A retired Jersey City police officer died Monday at a city police building when a handgun discharged as he was cleaning it, police said.
Robert J. McGillis Jr., 53, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after noon, police said.
The shooting appeared to be accidental, police said.
A preliminary investigation found that McGillis, who retired in June of 2000 and was rehired in January 2006 as a consultant and coordinator for the K-9 unit, was cleaning the large-caliber handgun at the time of the accident. Cleaning materials were on a table adjacent to where the shooting occurred, officials said.
McGillis joined the Jersey City Police Department in 1976 and was the recipient of five commendations. He was a member of the department's Emergency Service Unit as a K-9 officer. He came back from retirement to oversee an expansion of the department's K-9 unit.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation.
I cannot for the life of me figure out how he could come to point a loaded gun at his chest with his finger on the trigger while cleaning the gun....?
1. Clean weapon of any unused ammunition.
2. .....
Maybe he should have taken the bullets out and cleaned them first.
Too bad, that's a hard thing. Even after years and years of handling firearms basic safety is still important.
Something fishy about this story. I don't know what kind of gun he was cleaning, but at what point in the cleaning process do you point the gun at yourself and pull the trigger?
NRA safe gun handling rules:
Most likely without proper training.
Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction
Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot
Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use
What was his relationship with the Clintons???
Also, career wise it would seem this guy had a decent gig, not the usual LEO grind by a stretch.
Glocks can bite if mishandled, have to wonder if this guy had any training or if gunhandling skills were just assumed given his background?
As someone already pointed out, the Glock striker must be forward in order to remove the slide, only way to do that is to pull the trigger. If it's loaded, it will go off, mag in or out.
Familiarity breeds safety, but the costs of practice and instruction are prohibitive enough for most agencies to tell officers, 'if it appears to be a shooting situation to wait for SWAT.' Most officers never draw their weapons in their careers.
I'm sure even before reading this thread that many replies will ridicule this guy for making a mistake while handling his gun (assuming that's what it was).
I don't trust people who think they're incapable of making a mistake with a firearm. They're more dangerous, IMHO. Nothing invites disaster like familiarity and a perception of invulnerability. This guy no doubt handled guns safely for his entire life, right up until that last time. It's a safe bet that he's quoted all the rules to somebody before...
The first step in caution is to assume that you can screw up too.
IMHO.