A cop shot a wall at the North Precinct
Officer Robert West was practicing his draw while fueling up, and the gun went off.
Last April, there was a wall-involved shooting at the North Precinct. Seattle Police Officer Robert West was practicing his draw at a department gas station. On the third draw, his finger brushed the trigger, and he fired one round into the concrete.
West received a three-day suspension for negligently handling his firearm, according to a disciplinary report released Friday. The Office of Police Accountability sustained only professionalism allegations, finding that West did not violate the department’s lethal force policy.
There is no general requirement in Seattle police policy to “safely handle firearms,” the OPA found. In response to this case, the agency recommended adding the “Four Cardinal Rules” of firearm safety to the department manual, but Chief Shon Barnes declined.
West told the OPA that he occasionally practices his draw before a shift to keep his firearm skills current. When he was in the Marines, West was a range officer responsible for enforcing firearm safety, according to a source who has requested anonymity. He said that he thought practicing while waiting for his tank to fill was a “productive use of his time.”
He said that he typically places his trigger finger on the slide while drawing and believed that he had done so. West said he was surprised when the gun went off. However, the OPA investigator noted that West’s index finger “appeared to be positioned within the trigger guard area.”
Cop's drunken hit-and-run ends in 15-day suspension
Seattle Police Officer Robert West is somehow still on the force after crashing while drunk and leaving the scene, according to a disciplinary report released last Friday.
It was a bad month for West. As we previously reported, West did a hit-and-run while apparently intoxicated last April, and the woman he was with accused him of domestic violence. He received a 15-day suspension.
West has left the Seattle Police Department and is rumored to have lateraled to another department in the Puget Sound area. We’ll follow up and update when we find out where he went.