The Philadelphia Police Department is investigating an incident in which a SEPTA police officer’s service weapon fired without manipulation while holstered.
The incident occurred on August 26 during rush hour at Suburban Station while the officer and his partner were on patrol, according to a statement prepared by SEPTA.
As the officers were exiting a SEPTA police cart they both “heard a loud bang” then smelled discharged gun powder. One of the officers found that his Sig Sauer P320, SEPTA police’s standard service weapon, discharged while secured in his thigh holster.
SEPTA police immediately alerted the PPD’s Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit about the discharge. There were no reported injuries.
A preliminary inspection of the weapon found no cause for the weapon’s firing without manipulation.
The agency will replace all service weapons used by officers, “out of an abundance of caution,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
Busch said SEPTA made an emergency purchase of 350 new Glock 17s and holsters to replace the P320s.
He said the transit agency chose the Glock because the model is known to be safe and reliable, and manufacturers can produce the firearm quickly.
SEPTA’s new firearms will take a few months to manufacture, Busch said, but in the meantime, the authority will borrow the 350 firearms from the PPD.
The transit officers ought to have the borrowed weapons by the end of the week.
The incident occurred on August 26 during rush hour at Suburban Station while the officer and his partner were on patrol, according to a statement prepared by SEPTA.
As the officers were exiting a SEPTA police cart they both “heard a loud bang” then smelled discharged gun powder. One of the officers found that his Sig Sauer P320, SEPTA police’s standard service weapon, discharged while secured in his thigh holster.
SEPTA police immediately alerted the PPD’s Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit about the discharge. There were no reported injuries.
A preliminary inspection of the weapon found no cause for the weapon’s firing without manipulation.
The agency will replace all service weapons used by officers, “out of an abundance of caution,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
Busch said SEPTA made an emergency purchase of 350 new Glock 17s and holsters to replace the P320s.
He said the transit agency chose the Glock because the model is known to be safe and reliable, and manufacturers can produce the firearm quickly.
SEPTA’s new firearms will take a few months to manufacture, Busch said, but in the meantime, the authority will borrow the 350 firearms from the PPD.
The transit officers ought to have the borrowed weapons by the end of the week.