The Denver PD is starting to look like the Keystone Kops. First they have officers pulling guns on each other ( http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=50692 ) and now this, along with a misleading headline.
2 officers shot by accident
Neither seriously hurt in incidents
By Kevin Vaughan
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Two Denver law enforcement officers accidentally shot themselves Thursday in separate incidents a little more than 10 hours apart.
Neither was seriously hurt, and each was sent home after being treated at Denver Health Medical Center.
The trouble started around 2:30 a.m. when rookie policeman Jessie Espinoza shot himself in the leg.
Espinoza, who has been out of the police academy for less than a year, was not on duty at the time, but officials would not say where the shooting occurred or whether the shot was fired with the officer's department-issued handgun. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Police Chief Gerry Whitman said investigators had collected "lots of evidence and witness statements."
"We're examining all of it," Whitman said.
No decision about whether to discipline Espinoza will be made until investigators finish looking into the incident.
Then, shortly before 11 a.m., veteran sheriff's officer Eugene Martinez shot himself in the foot as he was getting into his car outside the City and County Building.
Martinez, who has been with the sheriff's office since 1978, had attended a Christmas party at the City and County Building and was leaving when he was injured, according to initial reports.
Sheriff's Sgt. Darryle E. Brown said that according to preliminary reports, Martinez was getting into his car and adjusting his gunbelt when he inadvertently fired his gun.
He drove himself to the hospital.
"It's currently under investigation," Brown said. "I'm uncertain what action the department is going to take."
© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co.
2 officers shot by accident
Neither seriously hurt in incidents
By Kevin Vaughan
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Two Denver law enforcement officers accidentally shot themselves Thursday in separate incidents a little more than 10 hours apart.
Neither was seriously hurt, and each was sent home after being treated at Denver Health Medical Center.
The trouble started around 2:30 a.m. when rookie policeman Jessie Espinoza shot himself in the leg.
Espinoza, who has been out of the police academy for less than a year, was not on duty at the time, but officials would not say where the shooting occurred or whether the shot was fired with the officer's department-issued handgun. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Police Chief Gerry Whitman said investigators had collected "lots of evidence and witness statements."
"We're examining all of it," Whitman said.
No decision about whether to discipline Espinoza will be made until investigators finish looking into the incident.
Then, shortly before 11 a.m., veteran sheriff's officer Eugene Martinez shot himself in the foot as he was getting into his car outside the City and County Building.
Martinez, who has been with the sheriff's office since 1978, had attended a Christmas party at the City and County Building and was leaving when he was injured, according to initial reports.
Sheriff's Sgt. Darryle E. Brown said that according to preliminary reports, Martinez was getting into his car and adjusting his gunbelt when he inadvertently fired his gun.
He drove himself to the hospital.
"It's currently under investigation," Brown said. "I'm uncertain what action the department is going to take."
© Copyright, Denver Publishing Co.
