Police Officer Killed by Gatling Gun Negligent Discharge

[badkarma56]

Now this is one raw deal... I'm curious about the exact details of this ND.

http://www.wjactv.com/news/14106612/detail.html

Hollidaysburg Man Killed When Machine Gun Discharges At Blair County Gun Show

POSTED: 12:19 pm EDT September 13, 2007
UPDATED: 7:01 pm EDT September 13, 2007


HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- An auxiliary officer for a local police department was killed when a machine gun discharged at a private gun show in Blair County.

Michael Kurty, 36, of Hollidaysburg, was killed Wednesday night during a gun expo at the Hollidaysburg Sportsmen's Club.

Police said a Gatling mini-gun attached to a Humvee fired a few thousand rounds earlier in the evening before it discharged and released a fatal shot to Kurty's head.

""What appears to have happened is there was some sort of a jam and when they were trying to clear the jam is when the gun actually went off," said Pennsylvania State Police trooper Jeff Petucci.

A military official was expected to disarm the Humvee on Thursday.

Officials said Kurty was proficient in all types of firearms and conducted training for many local police departments.

The incident remains under investigation. Stay with Channel 6 News and WJACTV.com for continuing coverage as details become available.

[135boomer]

If you turn the barrel group by hand, it will fire. That is probably what they did trying to clear it.

[badkarma56]

If you turn the barrel group by hand, it will fire. That is probably what they did trying to clear it.

Thanks for the insight, 135boomer, that pretty much clarifies this ND event. An absolutely horrible situation, I sure feel sympathy for that officer's family and friends.

[Rokyudai]

Geezuz that is horrible.

[KBCraig]

A sad reminder that clearing any stoppage always starts with Step One: keep the weapon pointed safely down range!

[Target1911]

A sad reminder that clearing any stoppage always starts with Step One: keep the weapon pointed safely down range!

Key word being SAFELY