The responding officer to an accidental shooting at the apartment of Thornton’s new police in May did not have his body camera on, an apparent violation of police policy.
Thornton Police Department admitted the responding sergeant should have been rolling on his body camera when responding to the apartment of incoming Chief Jim Baird on May 14, according to Channel 9 News.
Technically at the time of the shooting, Baird was not yet Thornton’s police chief. He was sworn in as chief on May 27.
Baird said he was trying out different magazines on a new Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun when it was fired. He said he was on the phone and was multitasking when the gun fired.
The bullet went through a kitchen cabinet inside the apartment, and nobody was injured, according to CBS News Colorado.
“I should have known better,” Baird told CBS News Colorado. “It’s a mistake I’ll never make again.”
The City of Thornton said in a statement that Baird immediately tried to contact residents to make sure nobody had been hit. Baird then reported the incident to the interim police chief, who came to the apartment with an on-duty sergeant from the Thornton Police Department.
The investigation found no evidence of negligence or criminal conduct and Baird was not cited or arrested, according to a City of Thornton statement.
Channel 9 News reported that in a statement from the Thornton Police Department, the police acknowledged that on the evening of the incident, there were assumptions made that the situation was a “personnel/administrative matter instead of an investigation with a member of the public.”
“In review, the Sergeant should have had his body camera turned on, and this will be addressed internally, consistent with other incidents where a body-worn camera is not properly activated,” the statement said. “Furthermore, steps will be taken to clarify the interpretation of the BWC policy for all personnel for unique situations as our personnel faced on that evening.”