Hampton officer injured during firearm training exercise

Hampton Police Officer Al Brandt was struck by a bullet in his left hand on April 17 when a jammed firearm accidentally discharged during a training exercise.

     The incident occurred at the police department’s shooting range near the Hampton Municipal Airport. Brandt was attempting to dislodge a jammed semi-automatic handgun after it locked up on a fellow officer during a night handgun qualification session. Brandt, who serves as the department’s firearms instructor, was following the appropriate protocol prior to the accident, according to Hampton Police Chief Bob Schaefer.

     “They couldn’t get the slide to go backwards or forwards. In the process of trying to get the gun unjammed, the firearm went off and hit him in the hand,” Schaefer explained. “They were doing everything correctly.”

Read the full article in the April 30 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.