PHOENIX, AZ — A video that the Arizona Mirror obtained from the Arizona Department of Public Safety shows internal DPS safety footage, warning troopers that the gun they may be carrying could go off on its own.
The video references ways the FNS pistol could fire on its own or not go off at all when intended to.
The weapon used by DPS troopers was discovered to have a problem after a trooper tried to fire the FNS pistol, with a contact shot on Matthew Joseph Menard during a 2018 incident at a Benson hospital.
The weapon did not fire pressed against the subject, prompting DPS to then test the weapon. At that point, they realized the trigger could fail to reset, causing the weapon to fire on its own with any movement to the weapon.
Scripps station WMAR also reported on the issue of Baltimore County officers having FNS pistols fire on their own.
DPS was actually the agency that notified Baltimore County of the problem since they knew Baltimore County officers carried the same weapons.
Baltimore County went as far as spending $1.4 million on new guns for their officers.
DPS told ABC15, once they found the issue with the FNS pistol, they also notified the gun manufacturer who issued a service bulletin and began to fix the issue in the guns that DPS troopers use.
DPS estimates that around 500 of the FNS pistols could still be in department use, but they have since replaced the striker in the weapon, which fixed the issue they found.
They also said they are currently in the process of transitioning to an entirely different service weapon for their troopers.
