Kentucky Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Self in Elevator

Authors S.H. Blannelberry Teachable Moments This Week

Video footage of a Kentucky police officer accidentally shooting himself in the Stomach last Friday while traveling inside an elevator in Cincinnati was released this week.

The footage shows 25-year-veteran police officer Darryl Jouett from Erlanger, Kentucky, in the elevator with his wife while the gun discharges.

Jouett, who was not in uniform at the time of the incident, was holding a box in one hand while attempting to adjust his service weapon with the other hand when the gun went off, sending a .40 caliber round into his stomach.

“He was transitioning the holster and transitioning the gun out of his holster. He was going to carry it in his hand as they walked to the car,” Cincinnati Capt. Michael John told WLWT. “As he was pulling the gun from the holster, a round discharged, ricocheted in the elevator, struck him in the stomach.”

His wife immediately called 911 and Jouett was taken to a nearby hospital. He was released on Monday and is now recovering at home.

“It’s very unusual. Obviously you have somebody that’s used to handling firearms,” Capt. John continued. “It’s very unusual to see somebody discharge a firearm, accidentally, in a confined space like that. It’s very unusual.”

So, in looking at the footage, where do you think Jouett went wrong handling his pistol?

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  • Chuck Roast July 25, 2017, 10:14 am

    I just love it when “…common sense gun law advocates” tell us that only LEOS and military personnel should be armed since they are “…professionally trained.”

    Had one so called “….professionally trained” expert demonstrate (after coming in to the saddle shop to have a custom holster built for his 1911 duty weapon) how his pistol was unloaded. This expert pulled the gun out of his old holster, dropped the mag, pointed it at a wall (which just happened thankfully to be a concrete one) and pulled the trigger.

    One of the reasons I don’t carry concealed is the fear that if I were to get pulled over, one of these “…experts LEOS” will want to remove it from my person for the purpose of “…officer safety” and shoot me with it while “…making the gun safe.”

    I think the lack of training isn’t the fault of the departments as much as the fault of today’s policies of not letting America’s youngsters be trained in firearm safety at an early age. First firearm training most cops get is at the academy or a few short years in the military, then on to going to work as a LEO. It isn’t fair to America’s youth, to not let them even draw a picture of a gun in school, or to take away 4-H shooting programs, not let them hunt, etc., etc., and then ask them to either enter the military, or go into law enforcement having never held a firearm, much less learned gun safety at an early age.

  • Trevor_Phillips June 30, 2017, 5:12 am

    Silly monkey…must’ve thought that gun was a piece of fried chicken or a banana.

  • Gary January 14, 2015, 5:29 pm

    this could not have really happened. Glocks passed the california safety test. They cant possibly accidentally discharge themselves (sarcasm intended). I have only had 1 AD in my life, with a 1911 when i tried to lower the hammer to half cock. The hammer slipped from my sweaty thumb, but i had it pointed in a safe direction like the rules say. The reason i was doing this in the first place was because i found the thumb safety had gotten moved to fire while bouncing around in my center console ( legal then it that state). I find my glock or sig triggers safer than that hair trigger of your average 1911. Lots of training is the best safety of all.

  • Riverdog January 12, 2015, 4:34 pm

    The Glock fanboys always use the excuse that “safety is between your ears”…what a crock. This guy did a stupid thing in a moment of carelessness that we ALL do from time to time, which could have been avoided with a mechanical safety or multiple mechanical safeties such as are found on 1911’s.

    • Michael January 12, 2015, 11:27 pm

      There is no excuse for a negligent discharge regardless of the type of weapon. The only reason the gun went off was because the trigger was pulled, PERIOD.

  • Russ January 12, 2015, 3:59 pm

    Another fight stater from S.H. BLANNELBERRY.
    It was a simple mistake made because he wasn’t thinking safe.(he wont do that again)
    We all do it with machinery,guns, cars, even words.
    Think safe and stay safe people.

  • BOB CAYTON January 12, 2015, 3:45 pm

    1. HE HAD HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER.
    2. CONTEMPT THROUGH FAMILIARITY.

  • phil box January 12, 2015, 12:20 pm

    where on the body, is the elevator?

  • Bob January 12, 2015, 11:38 am

    “The footage shows 25-year-veteran police officer Darryl Jouett from Erlanger, Kentucky, in the elevator with his wife while the gun discharges.” Really??? Another gun discharging on it’s own?? I am certain this careless fool pulled the trigger while he was getting ready for that attack in the parking lot he was imagining would occur because he was no longer in his world, Erlanger Kentucky.
    Regardless of the manufacturer of the weapon (Glock, S&W, etc.) this guy was extremely careless while handling his firearm and the blame is all on him. You would think he would know better how to safely handle a firearm with 25 years experience as a police officer but I guess not. If he was expecting to have to use the weapon in the parking lot he may want to reconsider where he stays next time he travels to Cincinnati.

  • petru sova January 12, 2015, 11:29 am

    This is just another one of thousands of instances when a person using the unsafe Glock mechanism or a copy cat model accidentally shoots himself or someone else. New York had so many accidental discharges with Glocks they demanded a heavier trigger pull and many other police departments have switched to safer model guns. The take down procedure of a Glock is extremely dangerous as it requires you to pull the trigger with the slide forward. What kind of an idiot design engineer would design such a disaster waiting to happen? Guns like the Beretta 92 require a person to pull the slide back and lock it open before taking it down.

    Most people, even cops do not understand how the Glock works or how dangerous handling one of these guns really is without a manual or grip safety something the 1911 pistol has had for over 100 years. Is it not amazing we had a safer pistol 100 years ago than what we have today and it is very disturbing the other Gun companies are now copying this unsafely designed pistol.

    Someday a gun-savvy lawyer will rake Glock over the coals in a law suit and the rest of the copy cat companies will have massive recalls to install manual safeties on this style of a totally unsafe weapon. Gun Week Newspaper over the years has had dozens of stories of accidental deaths and wounding’s by Glock guns.

  • Larry Henson January 12, 2015, 11:24 am

    HE was a dumb ass! Glocks are great tactical weapon (for dumb asses) – HOWEVER – NEVER have a bullet IN the chamber – unless you are going to shoot and/or going to put into a holster DESIGNED for it!!!! Dumb ass . . . I know “it was the gun – not the IDIOT”. :=) As a former CA Deputy many PC hires ARE FACTUALLY not qualified to have a badge, let alone a gun.
    NOTE: there ARE qualified people of EVERY group – however the don’t hire the BEST – to keep the PC statistics on hiring “up” they hire the LEAST Qualified – to have a reason to get rid of them during the probationary period (the cowards don’t) or wait until the morons really screw up . . . then give them disability pay for LIFE = tax payers screwed! CHP Melony Singer comes to the fore-front via-vie the Rodney King incident!

    SO MAKE THEM FIND AND HIRE THE BEST – not clowns!

    • Rambo January 12, 2015, 12:58 pm

      Hey self righteous clown. Look in the mirror to find the real I am so awsome dumb ass.

  • Blasted Cap January 12, 2015, 10:18 am

    Gave the safety speech to our 4-H group yesterday.
    “Keep your booger picker off the bang switch until you’re ready to shoot.”

    • Russ January 12, 2015, 3:54 pm

      LOL

  • George January 12, 2015, 9:20 am

    Glock pistols do not have a safety DUH!!!

    • 308 Tom January 12, 2015, 11:20 am

      Glocks actually have several safeties built in, just none operated by the shooter.
      The most important safety on all firearms is between the shooter’s ears.
      Either you handle a gun safely – or you do not.
      It is the mental thing that is most important; it is the absence of the mental control that is dangerous regardless of whether there are operator manipulated controls in addition the trigger or not.

  • Roman January 12, 2015, 9:06 am

    He put his stupid finger on the stinking trigger

  • Blackmaiden January 12, 2015, 8:21 am

    WOW insecure inbreds never miss an opportunity to belittle another race. Oh wait a minute it’s only blacks. I wonder if you were told not to “sell” to a black man while in bed with your cousin. Well what say you about the slave master sneaking into the helps sleeping quarters to get a little. Guess deep down they craved chocolate. We shall inherit the earth after all ignorant racicts on both sides exterminate each other. Start the 7 years of cleansing. Eden will follow.

    • Greg January 12, 2015, 10:56 pm

      Sounds like u r one of the racist you speak of, practice what you preach and maybe eden will follow afterall.

      • Blackmaiden January 13, 2015, 8:39 am

        Would that be a black or white racist I sound like? Just a responce to a white racist. Did it hit a nerve because the response was directed towards someone white? Funny how you didn’t respond to his comments. I guess if you put down any race other than white it’s fine by “you”. When will people understand “black” is no longer a race. It’s a culture. Different races are now using “n!@@a” as a reference to mean friend ,enemy or a person in general. Some backs don’t seem to get upset when a White, Hispanic/ Latino or any other race uses it when they’re down with them. So practice what you preach and vilify all racial inequalities. Let the hatred destroy itself. I do not hate the Mike. Hate the teachings of his beliefs. It’s a blanket statement just as mine was. I know not all white men are serial killers,pedophiles or inbred though some would like you to think so. Just like not all blacks sit on the front porch drinking a forty waiting on a check. Take everyone on there own merit. Hard to do when you can’t get past there skin color.

        • Greg January 13, 2015, 10:05 am

          True not all us whites are inbred anymore than all blacks are free loading well fare scum of the earth, so we are in total agreement brother welcome to eden.

          • Blackmaiden January 13, 2015, 9:07 pm

            Thanks Greg. The only race people need to take care of is the human race. As God intended.

  • Call me Snake January 12, 2015, 7:17 am

    This is exactly why I only carry a. DA/ SA with a decocker. And as previously said, “keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot”. I will take my Sig over a glock any day and it will never let me down. The “officer” showed very poor judgement and poor gun handling. Lucky he didn’t hit wife too.

    • steve a. January 13, 2015, 6:46 pm

      lol. the difference between a DA/SA without a safety and a glock without a safety isn’t really all that much.

  • R Brock January 12, 2015, 7:07 am

    Look at the heading for the article.

    Could you please tell us: What part of the body is the elevator?

    • Andrew January 13, 2015, 1:58 pm

      Hilarious!! Just as many cops don’t know how to properly handle firearms, many journalists don’t know how to write properly.

    • Jim T September 1, 2015, 6:25 pm

      Kind of like shooting an elephant in your pajamas.

  • Mike January 12, 2015, 7:03 am

    Two things as I see it: First, there is an old saying that says never sell a firearm to a black man! Two, the black man is obviously ashamed of his own color being with a white woman, and was clearly distracted… (Hope the white wife finally realizes what a looser this guy truly is.)

    • Bob Johnston January 12, 2015, 8:03 pm

      Gee Mike, I think when your husband reads this he will realize just what a loser you are. Yes, I know you are also male. Your blatant racism makes most all of the rest of white males sorry for you and any thinking person you may encounter. Must be rough to go through life as stupid as you appear to be.

      • Rattlerjake January 13, 2015, 12:28 am

        Mike is 100% correct. http://youtu.be/am-Qdx6vky0. During my military service I never saw a single AD by a white soldier, but often saw blacks do it. This cop had NO REASON TO BE HANDLING HIS FIREARM IN THAT ELEVATOR, and WHY remove it from a holster to put it in a coat pocket? Makes NO sense at all!

        • steve a. January 13, 2015, 6:27 pm

          i’ve seen 6 negligent discharges in my life. all white people. and where i live the number of whites, blacks, and hispanics, especially who own guns, is equal.

  • George of the jungle January 11, 2015, 4:39 pm

    The cop who shot himself is black, I’m surprised Al Sharpton hasn’t blamed a white cop for it yet.

    • Russ January 12, 2015, 3:51 pm

      Now that’s funny as hell.

    • Rattlerjake January 13, 2015, 12:21 am

      His wife is white, they’ll likely blame her.

  • Matt January 10, 2015, 5:52 am

    Poor trigger finger discipline.

    Why take the gun from your holster, then transfer to a pocket with no holster?

    Lots of cops have no idea how to handle a gun.

  • slacking January 10, 2015, 5:39 am

    His major error was in owning a Glock. How many more must be shot in the leg or stomach before we admit Glocks suck.

    • 9tex86 January 12, 2015, 3:48 pm

      I love my Glock(s). I actually love that they have no external safety. The day I turned 21, I bought my first one. The older gentleman who ran the store told me “the safely is between your ears”. That is true of any gun. You just gotta be smart and not get too relaxed when you carry. When you get too relaxed, accidents happen. Not going to bash this guy, I’m sure he is bashing himself enough.

      • Bob Johnston January 12, 2015, 7:54 pm

        Glocks and their lack of any safety make them the most dangerous guns around. I cannot recall the last time I heard of an accidental discharge, many of which injured or killed someone, that was not a Glock. Okay, so you don’t put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire, and on the range that is fine, but in real life many other things hit your trigger in the meantime. Once you are locked and loaded with a striker fired pistol that has no safety, you have eliminated any measure of safety and sure as shooting, more than one person’s “safety between their ears” is going to get them or someone else shot. Glocks are dangerous. I will never own one.

        • steve a. January 13, 2015, 6:24 pm

          seriously? you’ve never heard of the countless times people have accidentally shot themselves or someone else with a 1911? especially in the leg or the ass? i hear of people accidentally shooting themselves all the times with guns other than glocks. they are not the only ones without an external safety either. many striker fired and double action pistols, (not to mention revolvers, which is what everyone used to carry before semi autos anyway) that don’t have safeties. one of the reasons we hear it so often with glocks, is that they are pretty much the most popular handgun, especially for police. not saying the lack of a safety doesn’t contribute to the accidental shootings, it does. but it is in no way a problem unique to glocks. i prefer not having a safety on my concealed carry weapon, as it has been showed repeatedly, even with police and other trained/experienced people, that when in high stress/dangerous situations, people often forget to rake off the safety, or can’t do it properly/quickly enough.

        • Doc Loch January 13, 2015, 11:35 pm

          You can so easily educate yourself in this day and age. Go to YouTube. Type in the search bar “Shoots himself”. Watch a few videos. Poof! You have a few more data points to consider and are a little more educated. The ones I have seen don’t involve glocks at all. And I could care less about having or not having a Glock.

          We know very little of this man’s situation, or the real truth. It is only speculation to try to figure out what happened. He was coming home from a dinner date with his wife. Was he impaired by alcohol? We don’t know. Why did he draw his weapon? We don’t really know. What pulled the trigger of the firearm? We don’t know.

          We can only analyse what we truly know and leave all those other speculations alone. I think we should only make analysis for our own edification because as soon as you say, Glocks kill people, sounds like the same person who says, guns kill people. Life is full of risk. We know more about risk than we ever have. Yet, somehow, we have just as much or more injury, sickness and death as ever and yet we somehow think that eliminating all risk is possible. I wish this thinking would stop.

          I wish we knew all the truth behind those stories of people shooting themselves while cleaning their firearms. Most people don’t tell the whole truth when they make truly foolish decisions which might end up in consequences almost as bad or in addition to the one of being shot. So, the story they tell is rarely what really happened.

  • LHTwist January 9, 2015, 4:59 pm

    “As he was pulling the gun from the holster, a round discharged, ricocheted in the elevator, struck him in the stomach.”
    While all of those facts might be true, what I saw suggests that it happened in a different order. Like maybe he was waving his pistol around, flailing his coat with it, it discharged hitting him in the abdomen and perhaps then ricocheted off the elevator somewhere.
    His error was most evidently placing his finger on the trigger!
    The Four Basic Principles of Safe Gun Handling
    1. Treat every firearm as if it’s loaded.
    2. Never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
    3. Always be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
    4. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are on target and ready to fire.

  • paul January 8, 2015, 4:59 pm

    The police description of the incident does not agree with what is observable on the video. Looks like he had extracted the pistol from its holster, and he was trying to put it in to his pocket, all with just one hand. It didn’t fit easily, and he caused the discharge.

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