An Ocala, Florida corrections officer was killed in an unintentional shooting at the correctional facility’s firearms range at 3:30 this afternoon.
Officer Jared Forsyth, 33, was rushed to a Ocala Regional Medical Center in critical condition and immediately taken into surgery, but he later died from his injuries. According to a police spokesperson, the accidental shooting happened just before 3:30 p.m. at the shooting range at the Lowell Correctional Institution
The article calls this an accidental shooting, but I disagree. This was not an accidental shooting, it was a NEGLIGENT shooting. If a shooter is following the four rules of firearm safety, there can be no one unintentionally shot. In order for an unintentional shooting to occur, two or more rules must be violated. That makes ANY unintentional shooting an act of negligence, not an accident.
The four rules are:
1 All guns are always loaded. (Treat them so!)
2 Never point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
3 Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target (and you have made the decision to shoot).
4 Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.