SEPTA Police get Glock 17 service pistols after Sig P320 pistol accidentally fires

J

JDBerg

New member
https://whyy.org/articles/septa-pol...istol-accidentally-fires-at-suburban-station/

Interesting article, the SEPTA transit police in Philadelphia is replacing the Sig P320 with the Glock 17, after an officer had an “accidental” discharge while on duty at a train station.

<<<Please read at least the first page of posts on this thread before you post a response. Otherwise you will be posting without enough information to make an intelligent response. JohnKSa>>>
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well that's not good, wonder if the weapon was or has had the "optional" recall performed? I'm sure Glock is loving this though, more potential sales.

I'm not happy though, I have a used p320 in 45 on lay-a-way and forgot to check if its had the recall done to it????
 
Does the SIG P320 have any tangible benefits over the Glock 17?

Because if so, then I'd be curious as to why they ever chose it over the G17 to begin with, save for the bureaucratic bragging rights of the police force being; "outfitted with the latest in firearms technology".

Personally, I prefer to carry firearms with at least a decade's worth of reliability to their name, unless the latest firearm has a truly innovative feature going for it.
 
The article is old(er). IIRC there's already a follow on where they inspected the firearm and couldn't find a defect. I'll see if I can find that article.

Edit: looks like the firearm was inspected by multiple parties other than SIG and found to be functioning fine. My guess would be someone had a ND and looked for an easy out.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/09/18/septa-p320/

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
By the way, the Pasco, FL incident mentioned in the article was debunked. The officer who reported that the gun fired while holstered was not telling the whole story. Apparently he was playing with the gun when it went off, pulling it in and out of the holster. He was terminated.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/pasco...se-gun-discharged-at-middle-school-cafeteria/

"Nocco said surveillance video showed Cross lifting the Sig Sauer P320 in and out of its holster."
 
It’s not like there has never been an “accidental” discharge from a Glock. And nobody has yet coined the term “Sig leg.” Oops! I guess I just did.
 
https://youtu.be/3D90XUiSwkc

The above YouTube link of this news story corroborates the linked article which both stated there were 2 SEPTA transit officers in an electric cart at the time when one of the officers guns discharged.

So Sig is saying in that below TFB article, that the only way this incident could possibly happen is if the gun was being mishandled, and this would be like saying that one officer is lying and the other officer is swearing to it. Philadelphia is my hometown and I know law enforcement officers back there and I can’t imagine under what circumstances one officer would be mishandling his duty gun, especially in the presence of another officer.
 
Philadelphia is my hometown and I know law enforcement officers back there and I can’t imagine under what circumstances one officer would be mishandling his duty gun, especially in the presence of another officer.
Click to expand...

It happens all the time, i doubt they are immune to it in Philadelphia.
 
JDBerg said:
https://youtu.be/3D90XUiSwkc



The above YouTube link of this news story corroborates the linked article which both stated there were 2 SEPTA transit officers in an electric cart at the time when one of the officers guns discharged.



So Sig is saying in that below TFB article, that the only way this incident could possibly happen is if the gun was being mishandled, and this would be like saying that one officer is lying and the other officer is swearing to it. Philadelphia is my hometown and I know law enforcement officers back there and I can’t imagine under what circumstances one officer would be mishandling his duty gun, especially in the presence of another officer.
Click to expand...
I have a lot of respect for law enforcement. The majority of my training has been from former or current law enforcement and I like and respect those guys. But the blue wall of silence is a thing. When a pistol has been inspected by groups other than SIG (and those groups are themselves part of law enforcement) and all safety devices appear to be working, what's more likely?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
So Sig is saying in that below TFB article, that the only way this incident could possibly happen is if the gun was being mishandled, and this would be like saying that one officer is lying and the other officer is swearing to it.
Click to expand...

From the link.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/09/18/septa-p320/

"The Philadelphia Police’s Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit declared a preliminary inspection of the SEPTA P320 involved in the incident “found no cause for the weapon’s firing without manipulation”, a follow up investigation by PPD’s Firearms Forensic Unit determined the pistol and it’s safeties were functioning as designed."​

That means two organizations, both independent of SIG, looked the pistol over and were unable to find any problems with it's design or function that could have caused a spontaneous discharge. Those two organizations are essentially saying that SIG is off the hook for this one.

As far as I can tell, they didn't even send the pistol to SIG after they looked it over--which says a lot.
 
This is interesting.
I have a Sig P320 XFive, and while it’s nice, I feel the trigger on my glock 17 is better.
I don’t plan to carry the XFive and don’t keep it loaded when hanging on my pistol rack and it always pointed in a safe direction while loading or after its loaded...

This seems to be a case of “Idontwanttolosemyjobitus” based on what I’ve read, with no first-hand knowledge.
 
Accidental discharge or defect, it seems a gun that is designed to be issued to thousands of folks who will use if professionally would be designed with sufficient safety measures for all but the most reckless of behaviors.

I doubt very much there has ever been a model of pistol released that hasn't had at least one poor fool mishandle it to the point of firing unintentionally. But it seems that there may be some disconnect between theory and practice with the 320. It seem the issue of reliability keeps coming up with new models Sig has released in the last 5 or so years.
 
Do various Glock have some 'issues' from time to time-yes BUT the 'issues' with the Sig320 were such that Sig offered a 'soft, small 'r' recall..And a department, seeing these 'issues' decides to dump them and get the HG that has been reliable and in use by various LE agencies and militaries for how long? Introed in 1982, BTW...
It was probably cheaper too..but..it's a Glock so ya know, gotta be sumthin else goin on...:) A kickback, an uncle's brothers aunt works at Glock...sumthin..CAN'T be cuz the G17 was a better choice.
 
USNRet93 said:
Do various Glock have some 'issues' from time to time-yes BUT the 'issues' with the Sig320 were such that Sig offered a 'soft, small 'r' recall..And a department, seeing these 'issues' decides to dump them and get the HG that has been reliable and in use by various LE agencies and militaries for how long? Introed in 1982, BTW...

It was probably cheaper too..but..it's a Glock so ya know, gotta be sumthin else goin on...:) A kickback, an uncle's brothers aunt works at Glock...sumthin..CAN'T be cuz the G17 was a better choice.
Click to expand...

A wild fanboy has appeared!

In seriousness, given the M17 competition SIG can certainly undercut the competition when it comes to price, and the department already had the P320s. This decision seems spurred by an incident that by the department's own investigative services begs credibility. But we can always ignore the facts of the case and speculate.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
remember

"Spontaneous discharge" , I gotta remember that one.

I spent about a year in Philly, working the Liberty Bell/ Independence NHP. Had my pickup stolen within a week of my arrival. Philly metro cop made me stand in traffic at his car window to take the stolen report, it was raining, he apparently didn't wanna get out. Talking with another on a corner, noticed his holster was unsnapped...advised him discreetly...his response....."Yeah I know"! I can't imagine SEPTA's any different, or things have changed much.

Most dangerous thing on the street was a SEPTA bus.
 
Sounds like a load of horse pucks to me. Inanimate machines do not do anything "Spontaneously". I'd almost bet the guy was playing with it when it went BANG!
The absolute most irresponsible users of firearms from a safety POV are cops. There have been cops shot up here by other cops playing "quick draw". One of whom was a "SWAT" type shot while waiting for a training session to start.
"...a case of “Idontwanttolosemyjobitus”..." More like a case of “Idontwanttogetsueditus”.
 
T. O'Heir said:
Sounds like a load of horse pucks to me. Inanimate machines do not do anything "Spontaneously". I'd almost bet the guy was playing with it when it went BANG!
The absolute most irresponsible users of firearms from a safety POV are cops. There have been cops shot up here by other cops playing "quick draw". One of whom was a "SWAT" type shot while waiting for a training session to start.
"...a case of “Idontwanttolosemyjobitus”..." More like a case of “Idontwanttogetsueditus”.
Click to expand...
Are springs, under tension, truly inanimate objects?!?! ;)

But seriously, I have to wonder if it somehow got caught up in the holster or belt paraphernalia or jacket as he was exiting the cart, after not being properly holstered.
 
Reminds me of all those Glocks that "went off by themselves" right after they became popular in the US LEA market.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top