Knimrod
05-10-2006, 11:01 PM
Stray bullet blamed on faulty trigger
May 10, 2006
Lania Coleman
The Saginaw News
MIDLAND -- Police Chief James Q. St. Louis says a faulty rifle trigger is to blame for a sniper's stray bullet that traveled about 150 feet during an April 17 standoff here.
The trigger pressure required to fire the Remington 700 was "fluctuating" and dropped to an unsafe level, causing the rifle to discharge accidentally into the roof of an apartment building 40 to 50 yards away, St. Louis said.
The bullet lodged in the roof and hurt no one, St. Louis said. The standoff involved a tense hostage situation at Shattuck Apartments, 3816 Bay City.
Commanders authorized two snipers to switch their safeties off but not to fire, the chief said.
The hostage-taker "wanted somebody to kill him or he was going to hurt the person inside," St. Louis said.
He said a maintenance company may have introduced the rifle defect in late winter. Police have paid $280 to replace have the trigger system on the Remington 700 and one other, St. Louis said.
"The gun was sitting on a backpack and, when it was moved, the material from the backpack rubbed against the trigger guard," he said. "It was just enough vibration to set it off."
St. Louis said Remington officials told him the trigger release weight was "extremely low" and that "it wouldn't have taken much to set it off, and that it was a defect."
The northern Michigan company that did the maintenance on the rifle told Midland police it reduced the let-off pressure to four pounds, but a Remington representative said it took only about two pounds of pressure to fire the gun, St. Louis said.
Thomas Heritier, Saginaw police firearms specialist, agreed that two pounds is unsafe. "A two-pound trigger pull is awful thin," Heritier said.
St. Louis declined to identify the officer who had possession of the gun. He said the officer, a member of the SWAT team since 1998, had returned from sniper school shortly before the standoff.
"He was familiar with the guns," the chief said. "It caught him by surprise when it went off. He was in absolute shock."
Jason T. Traver, 34, of Midland faces a Circuit Court trial on charges of kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon and telephone cutting. Police responded when a man called 911 and said he had taken his girlfriend hostage and wanted to talk to a negotiator. The woman later left the apartment unharmed.
Link to story (http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1147267272314570.xml&coll=9)
May 10, 2006
Lania Coleman
The Saginaw News
MIDLAND -- Police Chief James Q. St. Louis says a faulty rifle trigger is to blame for a sniper's stray bullet that traveled about 150 feet during an April 17 standoff here.
The trigger pressure required to fire the Remington 700 was "fluctuating" and dropped to an unsafe level, causing the rifle to discharge accidentally into the roof of an apartment building 40 to 50 yards away, St. Louis said.
The bullet lodged in the roof and hurt no one, St. Louis said. The standoff involved a tense hostage situation at Shattuck Apartments, 3816 Bay City.
Commanders authorized two snipers to switch their safeties off but not to fire, the chief said.
The hostage-taker "wanted somebody to kill him or he was going to hurt the person inside," St. Louis said.
He said a maintenance company may have introduced the rifle defect in late winter. Police have paid $280 to replace have the trigger system on the Remington 700 and one other, St. Louis said.
"The gun was sitting on a backpack and, when it was moved, the material from the backpack rubbed against the trigger guard," he said. "It was just enough vibration to set it off."
St. Louis said Remington officials told him the trigger release weight was "extremely low" and that "it wouldn't have taken much to set it off, and that it was a defect."
The northern Michigan company that did the maintenance on the rifle told Midland police it reduced the let-off pressure to four pounds, but a Remington representative said it took only about two pounds of pressure to fire the gun, St. Louis said.
Thomas Heritier, Saginaw police firearms specialist, agreed that two pounds is unsafe. "A two-pound trigger pull is awful thin," Heritier said.
St. Louis declined to identify the officer who had possession of the gun. He said the officer, a member of the SWAT team since 1998, had returned from sniper school shortly before the standoff.
"He was familiar with the guns," the chief said. "It caught him by surprise when it went off. He was in absolute shock."
Jason T. Traver, 34, of Midland faces a Circuit Court trial on charges of kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon and telephone cutting. Police responded when a man called 911 and said he had taken his girlfriend hostage and wanted to talk to a negotiator. The woman later left the apartment unharmed.
Link to story (http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1147267272314570.xml&coll=9)