It “Just went off!”
Sig Sauer M18
What Really Happened With That SIG M18 at FE Warren Air Force Base
By Dan Zimmerman
Two airmen at a Wyoming U.S. Air Force base have pleaded guilty to making false statements about the deadly shooting of a third that prompted the suspension of Sig Sauer M18 pistol use at nuclear weapons sites for a month, the Air Force said in a statement Friday.
The gun pause by the Air Force Global Strike Command after the death of Brayden Lovan, 21, in late July was lifted in late August after Air Force officials determined the M18 was safe to carry.
Lovan was an airman with the 90th Security Forces Squadron, 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base outside Cheyenne.
Details about his death were released for the first time Friday, including that the alleged shooter, Marcus White-Allen, had pointed the gun at Lovan’s chest in a “joking manner.” White-Allen after the shooting allegedly urged the other two surviving airmen to lie about what happened, according to the statement. …
White-Allen allegedly told [Airman Sarbjot] Badesha, “Here’s the story. Tell them that I slammed my duty belt on the desk and it went off.” White-Allen allegedly told Rodriguez to tell emergency responders that White-Allen’s “holster went off,” according to the statement.
Neither airman initially reported that information, leading investigators to believe at first that White-Allen’s M18 accidentally discharged, according to the statement.
The Sig Sauer M18 is a military variant of the P320 handgun, adopted by the U.S. military in 2017. It has been subject to scrutiny due to multiple allegations of unintentional discharges, with some incidents reported where the firearm discharged without any trigger manipulation. A lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in Concord, New Hampshire, claims there have been over 100 incidents of the P320 pistol unintentionally discharging when the user believed they did not pull the trigger.
Sig Sauer has consistently denied these allegations, asserting that the P320 cannot discharge without a trigger pull. The Air Force has reinstated the firearm for service. Hat tip to our own Graybeard for the link.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Air Force, Guest Link
This is the second time this story was told here. Yet, there will still be some who will insist the gun went off on it’s own and it is unsafe.
Every murderer will tell you that guns go off by themselves all the time. Whenever they shoot someone it’s because that pesky gun decided to fire itself for no reason….
Amazing how many people are killed or wounded when in the presense of a firearm being “cleaned”.
It is, NaL. I’d sent it to AW1Ed before it showed up the first time, and thought he’d passed it over to David or whoever posted it.
But it is worth repeating to help silence all those X-spurts who insisted the P320/M18 is faulty.
But, unfortunately,
“A man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still.”
Some people don’t want to face counter-evidence…
::cough::Lars::cough::
“…asserting that the P320 cannot discharge without a trigger pull”
Just like a “Rusty” Colt’s Single Action Army. (Right Alex?)
Alec’s claim is even more ridiculous, it being a SA that requires a thumb cock before you can even use the trigger
Small arms guy here (AF Combat Arms/Red Hat) for a few years. Guns dont go off without a trigger pull. Older weapons maybe but newfangled ones, it ain’t gonna happen. When I first heard that story, I cried bullshit.
Hope the cops gets some jail time for murder and more time for lying.
Every Joe has a fool proof story to get out of trouble. I’m surprised the Air Force didn’t smell the bullshit on this one right away, instead of removing the gun frome use.
What is so fucking hard about remembering one of the fundamental and hard/fast rules of gun safety?
Aaaah, the old Alex Baldwin explanation…?
Alec Baldwin denies paternity…
Hm. I’m so old, I remember when the story of the “uncommanded discharge” of the P320 killing an Air Force member first came out, was reported on this blog and virtually every comment was about how dangerous and untrustworthy the P320 is.
My how times have changed. 🙂