A Houston police officer says his gun fired on its own. Now he’s suing the manufacturer.
Law enforcement agencies across the U.S., including in Dallas and Houston, are discontinuing use of the SIG Sauer P320 handgun over concerns that it can fire without the trigger being pulled.
The P320, once popular for its reliability and quality, has become the subject of multiple lawsuits filed by officers who claim the gun discharged while holstered. Among them is Houston Police Officer Richard Fernandez, who says his P320 went off during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade earlier this year, shooting him in the leg.
SIG Sauer denies any defect in the weapon. The company maintains that “the P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without a trigger pull – that is a fact,” according to a statement on its website.
But Officer Fernandez disputes that assertion. Speaking to the Texas Standard, he recounted the incident in which the weapon, holstered on his hip, discharged as he used both hands to direct traffic. “My hands were nowhere near the gun or the holster, and that gun fired into my leg,” Fernandez said.
He was rushed to a hospital and underwent surgery to remove a bullet lodged near his ankle.
Fernandez says the weapon was secured in a Level 3 holster – standard issue in the Houston Police Department – which includes multiple layers of retention. “All three were intact,” he said. “The gun was holstered and still fired.”
His attorney, Scott Cisco, emphasized there is no doubt the gun was holstered at the time. “The shell casing remained inside the weapon after it fired. The entire holster and pistol were removed from Rick’s belt together,” Cisco said.
The case adds to growing scrutiny of the P320, which has faced similar allegations from other officers and civilians. Critics argue the gun lacks external safeties, increasing the risk of unintentional discharge. Although SIG Sauer has reportedly updated its manual to state that the P320 is not designed to be carried with a round in the chamber, Fernandez said that’s not a practical option for police officers.
“That’s the way we carry – round chambered,” he said. “We don’t have time to load our weapons in the middle of a dangerous situation.”
Fernandez, a veteran officer who began his law enforcement career in 1988, called on SIG Sauer to take accountability. “They need to fix the defect before it hurts or kills more people,” he said. “All my friends are now buying new guns because SIG keeps selling a defective weapon.”
At this time, SIG Sauer has not responded publicly to the lawsuit filed by Fernandez.+
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