Police shoot Bz. City man inside Queen St. Station
Reports of shooting incidents are about as common as “dalla beer” at a political convention, but when you hear of a man being shot while inside a police station, it tends to grab your attention. And what makes this story even more compelling is that the shooter is none other than a police officer. Twenty-year-old Mervin Moore is tonight lucky to be alive. Moore was grazed to the back of his head by a bullet fired from an officer’s gun while in the Queen Street police station on Friday night. The young man had been at the station to report being beaten up earlier in the evening. This afternoon, Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid explained the circumstances of the shooting incident.
G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
“From initial investigations by the department, at around 9:00 p.m. Friday night one police officer was writing up his report and placed his revolver on the desk. Another officer came over and picked up the revolver. It accidental went off and the bullet ricocheted off the wall and hit a complainant.”
Janelle Chanona
“What will be the ramifications of such a stupid accident?”
G. Michael Reid
“It was a stupid accident. And the Police Department acknowledges that this was something that happened that should not have occurred and that in fact the Police Department has got to admit liability here.”
Janelle Chanona
“When you say action will be taken against the officer in question, that’s interdiction, fine, what kind of action?”
G. Michael Reid
“All of the above. Whatever is necessary, the investigation will reveal. And I’m saying that this is not going to be an investigation that will drag on. I have gotten a commitment from the Acting Commissioner, Mr. Zetina, that by the end of this week, some action will be forthcoming and people will see that the police are serious about addressing these issues.”
Police have since disclosed that the officer who caused the gun to go off is P.C. 781 L. Flowers. P.C. Flowers was putting a magazine clip into the gun when something he did caused a round of ammunition left in the chamber to fire.