Retired Officer Weighs In After Holstered Gun Discharges On School Playground

A gun expert and former police officer is weighing in after a gun belonging to a School Resource Officer discharged on a school playground in Blanchard.

The McClain County Sheriff's Office is investigating Friday's incident.

A sheriff’s office spokesman said the gun never left the officer’s holster and was equipped with safety features.

“No service pistol that I know-- currently in use, I was a retired cop--will go off on its own unless a trigger is pulled,” said retired police officer Randall Hancock.

The office has not released the exact make and model of the officer’s gun but did confirm the officer was using a Level 2 retention holster. It's designed to provide an additional layer of security. “He was passing out junior deputy stickers,” said Deputy Scott Gibbons, McClain County Sheriff’s Office. 

Friday afternoon, a McClain County resource officer was sitting on a playground bench helping a child zip their jacket when his gun went off. “It discharged even though it was secured in the holster,” said Gibbons.

The bullet left a gouge in the wooden bench, but thankfully no one was injured.

The gun and holster are under inspection by the McClain County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators need to find out if a student caused the incident, or if a mechanical failure is to blame.

“They will take the equipment to a firing range-- whether they use the deputy or someone similar in size to recreate that scenario,” said Gibbons.               

Randall Hancock is a retired police officer from Hawaii and oversees law enforcement sales at H&H Shooting. He believes mechanical failure is unlikely. “I will tell you that everyone I’ve ever heard of-- the gun did what it was supposed to do. A trigger was pulled, the firearm discharged,” said Gibbons.

According to the McClain County Sheriff’s Office, the officer in question was using a double retention holster. But despite its safety features, Hancock says it isn't foolproof.

“In my time as a police officer, kids always want to run up and touch everything on your belt. Is that your Taser? Is that your handgun?” said Gibbons.

He says despite security features built into the holster and gun, the trigger in some cases can still be pulled. Items, small objects, and little fingers can get into duty holsters and pull the trigger on a firearm.     

Hancock says a bullet at the time of the incident was obviously chambered--standard practice for law enforcement. “That is how I carried my service weapon, it is how we trained the officers in the departments I’ve worked at,” said Gibbons.

The McClain County Sheriff's Office told News 9 that the officer was left rattled by the incident and was reassigned to other duties.

In light of Friday's incident--House representative Michelle McCane of Tulsa issued a statement where she expressed she was "concerned how likely a serious injury or death could have occurred."

McCane also urged the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to work alongside the sheriff's office in an effort to "set a standard where this kind of thing can never happen again."