A female police officer is facing termination after accidentally shooting a man with his own gun during a traffic stop in Florida, according to TMZ.
Body camera footage shows Jason Arrington cooperating with the officers on the scene. In the video released by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, he calmly informs an officer that he has a gun on him. Arrington was stopped for running a red light. As he gets out of his SUV, two officers search him. That’s when Officer Mindy Cardwell takes the gun from his waistband, and it unexpectedly goes off.
There was immediate chaos as another officer told Cardwell to drop the gun. He then helped the injured Arrington to a grassy area. Blood was soaking through Arrington’s pants because the bullet had gone through his upper thigh. This caused a serious arterial bleed, reports note. The officers were able to stop the bleeding quickly with a tourniquet.
Arrington is expected to make a full recovery. He is now suing over the incident from December. He claims he has lasting injuries that affect his job as a crane operator. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said an internal investigation found Cardwell was incompetent. She is in the process of being fired.
Officials determined that she had trouble pulling Arrington’s gun from its holster and accidentally placed her fingers inside the trigger guard, which caused the gun to fire. In the state of Florida, residents are legally allowed to have a concealed weapon without a permit.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?