Guard Accidently Shoots Self at an Indianapolis High School

Blueyedog

New member
Guard accidentally shoots himself.
Special deputy working for security firm is listed in serious condition after mishap at North Central.


By Stephen Beaven
The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 3, 2000) -- A security guard who accidentally shot himself at North Central High School while trying on a new holster was in serious condition Wednesday night in Methodist Hospital.

Aaron Gilbert, 29, shot himself in the left thigh Wednesday morning while trying out the holster as he worked security in the parking lot, a school official said.

Norm Foust, director of transportation and security for Washington Township Schools, added that there were no students around at the time.

Gilbert is employed by Premier Security and also is a Marion County Sheriff's Department special deputy. As a special deputy, he has police powers and is authorized to carry a gun. The security firm has worked on contract for Washington Township Schools for 3 1/2 years.

The security firm and the Sheriff's Department will conduct investigations into the shooting. School officials have not discussed what action they will take, if any, regarding the shooting.

"Right now, we're really concerned about him," Foust said. "He's been a good officer."

Gilbert was by himself in his car about 8:20 a.m. when his 9mm Ruger discharged, said Anthony Burgess, the vice president and general manager of Premier Security.

The round pierced the femoral artery in his leg and broke the femur in half, Burgess said. A nearby Marion County sheriff's deputy rushed to Gilbert's aid to stop the bleeding, "which probably saved his life," Burgess said.

The doctors told the security firm that Gilbert is expected to fully recover.

"In all likelihood, he'll have normal function in his leg," Burgess said. "Not immediately. But after a while."

Gilbert was sworn in as a special deputy July 27.

Before being sworn in, he underwent 96 hours of training, which included some firearms training, said Barb Huser, the coordinator of special deputies with the Sheriff's Department. Gilbert later went through an additional eight hours of firearms training.

Huser and Burgess said Gilbert had no record of firearms mishaps or disciplinary problems.

The Sheriff's Department will determine whether Gilbert can continue as a special deputy after its investigation. But if the shooting was accidental, Huser believes, Gilbert will be able to keep his special deputy powers.

Premier Security will review the shooting after completing its own investigation and looking at the Sheriff's Department probe, Burgess said. But he declined to say what would happen after both reports have been reviewed.

"That's a little premature," he said Wednesday afternoon. "He's still in the hospital. He's still under the scalpel."

__________________________________________
It took some doing, but last fall all area Indianapolis schools were finally convinced that having absolutely no one armed on school grounds was setting up 'killing zones.' My own township has had armed security for quite a while, but it took the repeated school shootings to convince the other townships that someone on the grounds needed to be armed. So with a lot of media flack and protests, the remaining schools trained their officers (who weren't already cops) and issued weapons.

The main protestors acted as if the guns would magically jump from the holsters and begin firing their own triggers. And now some dweeb goes and does this. The timing just makes you wonder if there's not more behind it. Just when there's a little ground gained... boom.I know we will now have to deal with all those who protested back in the fall once again.
 
It's a real shame. Sounds like the guy was an idiot. Be thankful no kids were near hime and no one got hurt other than him. They say he received some training. How much? Nothing about practice. I would use this as an argument to insist on money for continual training, testing and practice. Turn it around. What good does it do to have a guy at the school with a gun who may hurt inocent by-standers or himself should the need arrise for him to even draw the firearm?

I wouldn't want him at my school either.
 
You can imagine this guy standing out in the parking lot, admiring himself in the reflection of one of the many mini-vans parked there. Entranced in dillusion, he imagines himself drawing on a group of trenchcoat mafiosos, only to snag his pinky ring on the trigger of his shiney new nickel plated .38 special.

Now wounded and lying in a pool of his own blood, he thinks of a way to explain his apparent stupidity by blaming it on a perfectly safe holster which was probably of his own personal selection.

"Yo Yo, you know, this here holster gone and snagged my trigger." "Yo Sir, you know...it jist wint off, you know...jist wint off, jes like dat."
 
And the anti's wonder why we snicker in response to their comments about only the police having/needing guns. Yes, I know, this was a Special Deputy and I mean no slight to LEOs in general. (Do Special Deputies go to Special School on the Special Buses?)

------------------
"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
 
The pistol was probably one of those nasty Glocks with the hair trigger. Lucky the guy wasn't tying his shoe - it could've been much worse - multiple discharges.
 
Some years back a California highway patrolman was demonstrating to his partner how if the slide of his semi-auto pistol was pushed back slightly the disconnector would prevent the pistol from firing. This was an officer safety tip he had come up with that he believed could be used if someone had taken his pistol away from him.

In the course of the demonstration he shot himself in the chest and damn near died.

You don't have to be "Special" to be stupid.
 
bruels -

In response, I direct your attention to my first sentence. I agree, stupidity transcends all racial, ethnic, social, and intellectual differences.

------------------
"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
 
"Only police and the military should have guns..."

Pulllleeeassseee....

CMOS

------------------
GOA, TSRA, LEAA, NRA, SAF and I vote!
 
If he'd had any training at all, he'd have known what a no-no it was to remove the weapon from it's holster to start with. Is he being charged with "negligent discharge of a firearm on a schoolground"?
 
The screaming and crying of the antis hasn't started yet. Maybe it will all go away, along with the inexperienced dweeb. I just hope the other schools take an intelligence test on the rest of the 'security' guards.
 
I'm amazed that no one here has tripped to the obligatory spin:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Gilbert was by himself in his car about 8:20 a.m. when his 9mm Ruger discharged....[/quote]

To quote a timeless phrase: "Saw it right off"!
Rich
 
Not this situation but what happened here. The local Menards decided it needed security. Armed security.????? At the back gate of the Menards back lot???? Well I asked what training they had. Basic here is the gun, here is the bullets, put the bullets in the gun and put the gun into a holster and DON'T TOUCH IT!!! Maybe this guy should have had that kind of training.
BTW a Ruger 9mm would be a double action as far as I know. If it was a 1911 or Glock I could understand how a new gun/holster combo :could: cause a N D. I understand he was inside his car??? Sounds like poor skills.
 
Back
Top