JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WKRC) — WARNING: Some readers may find the following story graphic and disturbing.
An officer was fired and charged with incompetence after accidentally shooting a driver with his own gun while attempting to remove it from his holster.
39-year-old Jason Arrington was pulled over on Dec. 13,for allegedly running a red light, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. During the traffic stop, Arrington told the officers that he had a concealed carry pistol in a holster on his waist, as shown on police body camera recordings released by the sheriff’s office on Jan. 21.
Arrington was thanked for his honesty and was asked to step out the vehicle while officers removed the gun from his holster. Officer Mindy Cardwell reached into Arrington’s holster to remove the pistol.
“The firearm was secured in a holster and Officer Cardwell had difficulty removing it. When Officer Cardwell was finally able to remove the firearm from the holster, she unintentionally placed multiple fingers inside the trigger guard of the firearm, causing the firearm to discharge,” read an incident summary obtained by People.
Arrington immediately begins to limp after the a bullet from his handgun went through his leg and the officers quickly called for backup and medical services. Arrington was escorted to the curb and a different officer applied a tourniquet to his leg.
According to local outlet WCSC, Arrington was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
In the description of the released body camera recordings, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said that Cardwell was charged with incompetence and that “termination proceedings” had begun against her.
In a press conference regarding the incident, Arrington said that his injury made doing manual labor at his job much harder, and that there are some things he can no longer do.
