MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — We know more now about how a bullet from a high powered rifle escaped from a shooting range and hit a playground in Marana. KGUN9 news has been following the case since the incident happened in October, now we have the police reports that led to an indictment against a Sahuarita police officer.
A bullet got out of a Marana gun range and hit a playground while a child and grandmother were playing there.
Police are expected to be experts on guns and gun safety. But a lengthy report on the incident says Sahuarita Police did not make sure they were shooting safely. And now the police sergeant who oversaw the training is under indictment.
For Robin Taylor and her grandson, the fun at the playground stopped when she heard the danger.
"A bullet went flying over here on the right-hand side, not far, very fast, and then I heard it hit the playground behind me. Tink,"
To have a more independent investigation, Oro Valley Police were asked to investigate how that could happen.
They found the day of the shooting that Sahuarita Police were training at the range. The Sahuarita officers supervising safety used rifles at part of the range intended for safe pistol shooting because recent rain made the rifle range flooded and muddy.
But the dirt walls meant to catch the bullets topped out at about 20 feet tall at the pistol range, compared to about 30 feet at the range meant for the more powerful rifles.
Using the rifle range would have meant pointing the guns away from the playground. Using the pistol range meant pointing rifles towards the playground, though with the 20 foot wall in place.
The police report says, instructors also had students shooting at targets placed well away from the wall instead of placing targets right next to the wall meant to stop stray bullets.
Several of the officers being trained said they don’t remember getting any safety briefing
A Pima County Grand Jury indicted Sahuarita Police Sergeant Aaron Medina on two counts of endangerment from the range incident. He was leading the training.
Sahuarita Police describe Sergeant Medina as a decorated 20 year veteran of police work. Their own internal review is still underway. In the meantime Sergeant Medina is doing administrative work.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
