Originally Posted by SIXTO
I can take an educated guess what he was attempting to do- transition from his waist band carry holster to his coat pocket.

I have another browser window on the other monitor, and watched the scene about ten times.

* enters elevator carrying a box and a bag in his left hand

* turns to face the elevator door

* sweeps overcoat back with right hand

* it looks like he's carrying the gun pretty far to the back

* he fumbles at the gun for a few moments. I'm thinking, tangled or snagged in clothing

* he gets the gun free, holds it out and looks at it for a moment. I'm thinking, looking for threads or snagged cloth

* he tries to put the gun in his outer pocket, but his pocket moves with his shoulder and he doesn't quite keep his grip on the gun

* the gun falls and he grabs at it

* oops

Scrolling down, the article says:

Jouett almost drops the weapon when it gets tangled in his coat. The gun fires into the elevator door as he tries to catch it.

Yeah, I'd go along with that.

I've snagged guns in clothing before, and I've dropped guns before, and though I know better, I'd probably try to grab one before it hit the ground.

Much as I'd like to jump on the "Idiot Cop Shoots Self" bandwagon, I'm not seeing any gross display of incompetence here. Yeah, it's still his weapon, which makes him responsible, but sometimes the dice of life come up with snake eyes.

Something my wife pointed out, watching the video - going by the length of time it took him to get the gun out, it probably *was* a good idea to move the gun from there to an outer pocket.

One lesson to take away here is that cold weather clothing can seriously hose access to your weapon. Holsters and habits appropriate to summer aren't always appropriate when you're layered up with winter coat(s).

If he'd had to draw on an attacker from the gun's original position, they could have ordered in a pizza before he got the thing out.