Surefire X300 'unsafe handling'

[funkfool]

I was gonna put this in the CC area but thought it might serve us better here - where more of the unit's operators might see it and realize the physical mechanics of the AD/ND.

NY cop tries to turn on pistol-mounted flashlight, fatally shoots man

The family of that man, suspected drug dealer Michael Anthony Alcala, is suing for negligence

By Larry Celona and Dan Mangan
The New York Post
NEW YORK — The shooting of an innocent, unarmed elderly Bronx man by a cop who was trying to turn on a pistol-mounted flashlight is at least the second accidental police shooting in the United States involving that flashlight model.
But unlike Saturday's shooting of 76-year-old Jose Colon - who survived a cop's bullet to the stomach - an unarmed Texas man died Oct. 13 under what reportedly were strikingly similar circumstances involving the Surefire X300 flashlight.
The family of that man, suspected drug dealer Michael Anthony Alcala, is suing for negligence.
Derek McDonald, Surefire's vice president of marketing, insisted, "our product is safe, has been proven safe. Used in a safe manner, it doesn't lead to accidents. It prevents misidentification and saves police lives."
Colon was shot during a drug raid Saturday in his Soundview apartment when Officer Andrew McCormack tried to turn on the flashlight mounted under the barrel of his Glock 9mm pistol, and instead pulled the trigger, sources said.
Copyright 2011 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc.

MOD's feel free to move at your discretion.
ff

[Batteriesnare]

Sounds like bad trigger discipline, and trying to blame it on something/one else. I have an x300 on my Glock 9mm that I carry and shoot almost every day. Never had an ND as a result of operating the flashlight. I'm not even sure how you could pull the trigger while trying to operate the light. The trigger is an actuation to the rear of the gun, while the light is an actuation up/down, and is outside the trigger guard.

[BigBear]

These are always interesting to me... I have a Glock and a flashlight model that sites under teh barrel as well. To turn it on, there is a tabbed switch that moves up and down... never once does your finger enter teh trigger guard to turn on the light. I've never even accidently put my finger in the trigger guard trying to turn on the light... Intersting stuff.

Operator error, not enough training? or does the Surefire light operate differently?

Edit: Batteriessnare beat me to it again. I wonder if these companies ever approach these guys and say, "Ok. You've blamed our product. Show us how to make it better."

[Stinky]

It sounds like sympathetic response and poor training (or actually lack of). Sympathetic response is when you grap w/one hand and the other one tightens up.

There have been lots of bad guys shot (then called innocent angels in the press) when cops grabbed the guy w/their left hand and had their gun touching the guy in the right hand. When you squeeze w/one hand, the other hand naturally tightens, in order to support the other hand. Guess why cops are taught to keep their fingers off their trigger.