Prince Andrew escapes death from bodyguard's shot

[Drizzt]

Prince Andrew escapes death from bodyguard's shot

TOM CURTIS


PRINCE Andrew narrowly escaped being killed when his personal detective accidently fired his gun, it was revealed last night.

The bullet narrowly missed the prince, passing through a desk and a wall before becoming embedded in a corridor 10ft from where the Duke of York was standing.

The experienced officer reported to be responsible, Detective Sergeant Jeff Fuller, is said to have been relegated to unarmed duties pending an inquiry by Scotland Yard.

It is the third time there has been a firearms accident involving royal protection officers in the past three years.

The latest accident is said to have happened while Fuller was unloading his gun at the prince’s Berkshire mansion, Sunninghill Park.

Last night a source said: "As soon as the shot was fired the prince dived for cover. Obviously at that point he had no idea what was happening. The bullet went through a desk, through a wall and into the wall of the corridor. Andrew was about 10ft from where it ended up."

Details of the incident, which happened a fortnight ago, have only just emerged. Scotland Yard issued a statement last night saying: "On April 25 a Metropolitan Police officer accidentally discharged a firearm while unloading it.

"No one was injured. As is routine, the officer has been taken off firearms duties pending the outcome of an inquiry."

Buckingham Palace said the accident was "a police matter".

Fuller, 48, has been Andrew’s personal bodyguard for 12 years and previously worked with the Queen and Princess Anne. Protection officers are armed with Austrian-made Glock semi-automatic pistols, which fire steel-jacketed rounds at 1,350ft per second.

Regulations are understood to state that unless absolutely necessary, armed officers should not load, unload or clean their weapons inside royal households.

That is supposed to be carried out in a designated armoury.

Andrew, 43, has lived alone at Sunninghill Park since his divorce in 1996, although daughters Beatrice, 14, and Eugenie, 12, visit regularly along with his ex-wife, the Duchess of York.

In June 2000, Royal Train bodyguard PC Michael Slade accidentally fired a shot in the dining coach as he took his gun from his holster, and another as he tried to make the gun safe.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were sleeping nearby.

In 2001, PC Michael Aldridge fired a shot from his Glock pistol as he checked it in at the end of his shift at Buckingham Palace just after the Queen had left for Windsor. No one was injured.

http://www.news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=538822003

....I'm starting to see why the Brits don't trust themselves with guns...

 

[J Miller]

Whats a "fortnight"? Always wondered about that.

Protection officers are armed with Austrian-made Glock semi-automatic pistols, which fire steel-jacketed rounds at 1,350ft per second.

Hmm, I'm sorry to say even the "stiff upper lipped" Brits can't keep their Glocks from going bang at the wrong time.

Steel jacket rounds at 1350 ft per second. Wow, I wonder how long the barrels last with steel jacketed bullets ??
Duh, I bet they meant "jacketed bullets".

 

[Tamara]

Regulations are understood to state that unless absolutely necessary, armed officers should not load, unload or clean their weapons inside royal households.

Yet I somehow manage to administratively handle, load, unload and fieldstrip all kinds of handguns (including *shudder* Glocks!) on a daily basis without sending any bullets whizzing past gigantic royal Dumbo ears. Imagine. Maybe I could get a job teaching gun safety to the Royal Protection Detail?

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Whats a "fortnight"? Always wondered about that.

A fortnight is a short way of saying "fourteen nights" or two weeks. It's a relatively common archaic word. Incidentally, a se'night is "seven nights" or a week.

Isn't it great that we have highly trained policeman to protect us? Why, I won't ever need to defend myself again. Jeez...

 

[Mizzoutiger]

"Escapes Death"? He didn't even get hit!

That's a little embellishing right there. But who knows... maybe those "steel jacketed" bullets are much more lethal.

 

[tyme]

Disarm the royal guard! It's for the prince!

edit... I suppose that ought to be "for queen and country"

 

[Coronach]

1. Drop magazine.

2. Clear chamber.

3. If you're british, repeat step 2.

4. Point in safe direction

5. If you're british, make sure #4 is not in the same direction as anyone of royal blood.

6. Pull trigger

7. Remove slide.

Jeesh!

Mike

 

[MAKOwner]

In June 2000, Royal Train bodyguard PC Michael Slade accidentally fired a shot in the dining coach as he took his gun from his holster, and another as he tried to make the gun safe.

LOL, this clown popped off two, pretty much has to be a bumbling clutz to manage that... Don't they train these guys?

If you're not pulling the trigger how does your gun "accidentally" fire? Sounds like these guys need a different handgun, one with a decocker and a manual safety...

 

[cratz2]

I tell ya... if I ever need armed body guards to protect my children, they're going to be ex Marine gun nuts and they get to carry whatever gun they want!

Not trying to knock the Glock because I think it's a pretty decent gun, but I wonder how many NDs/ADs/UDs whatever you want to call them, have happened because of a marginal person being issued something that goes against what that person has used for years?

Again, not meant as a slight against Glock as I've never had a problem and I'm sure 99% of folks on this board haven't had a problem, but there's a lot to be said for sticking with what you know, what you're well trained with and what you're comfortable with.

 

[Pendragon]

This is what happens when you set out to obliterate all knowledge of firearms.

Do you really think these guys have any interest in their guns or practice any more than is required to meet minimum standards?

 

[JPM70535]

While I am no big fan of Glocks, I just can't understand for the life of me how one could AD without the trigger.being pulled. It just doesn't happen. The kindest thing I can think of to say regardin g the nimrod who discharged this pistol is that he needs mega doses of remedial training in the cardinal rule of gun handling:
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

Maybe the Brits should go back to carrying Webleys.

 

[buttrap]

Well a lot of brit issue ammo is steel jacket with a copper plate on it like some US issue ammo from WW-2...cant hardly see that stuff used now but the brits do have a big pile off issue 9mm from the 40s still...Best give them back the old HPs and toss in a crumpet too...

 

[waterdog]

The Duchess of York still visits??

Hmmm... I wonder if she is b****** the bodygaurd, and maybe talked/persuaded him into having ND/AD.

If it wasn't for the US, the UK would have folded up during WWII.

They aint got no common sense.

waterdog

 

[fastbolt]

This is pathetic, no doubt about it ...

It reminds me of something, though, which is much closer to home.

I can't find the thread on the GT forum about the various articles, but a while ago I came across some information about the documented number of unintentional (negligent) discharges experienced by various American L/E involving Glock service weapons. I was interested in sometime trying to track down the sources for this info, as it made it appear that the number of discharges had exceeded 59 to 60 instances ... and that's only "documented" occurrences ... some of which have resulted in serious injuries.

Anybody here have any links to those articles?

Naturally, the District of Columbia was mentioned in at least one of them ...

Perhaps we're not so different from our overseas forebearers as we'd like to think ... Well, SOME of us, anyway ...

I actually watched someone pull the trigger to lower the hammer on a pistol during a qualification range once ... It worked, but not exactly in the manner the shooter was expecting. Afterward, I asked the person what they had been thinking, and was met with a blank look. Appropriate ...

 

[Don Gwinn]

Makes you wonder why the gun was out in the first place.

 

[Wildalaska]

Makes you wonder why the gun was out in the first place.

Some strange British public school ritual?

WildsecretlivesoflawrenceofarabiaAlaska

 

[p35]

Waterdog-

It's no secret that Andrew and Fergie are still b****ing each other, and would probably be married if they had their druthers.

There goes another possible explanation for this stupidity.

 

[CZ-75]

I just can't understand for the life of me how one could AD without the trigger.being pulled. It just doesn't happen.

The latest accident is said to have happened while Fuller was unloading his gun at the prince’s Berkshire mansion, Sunninghill Park.

Well, it does say he was trying to UNLOAD the gun, it just doesn't say HOW.

 

[El Tejon]

Riiiighttt! Finger off trigger, lads.

Maybe inbreeding attracts copper NDs?

 

[haukehaien]

Stupidagun

I'm a computer geek, worked in tech support for several years. One of the things that always used to get us laughing was a fake ad for a product called "Stupidamouse," which was a mouse without buttons, so that the the more technically challenged users couldn't mess anything up by clicking on it. Maybe we need to carry that over into firearms, thereby ensuring that the Royal Protection Detail (and others!) could be equipped with the "Stupidaglock" or "StupidaHP" or whatever the department requires. No trigger or hammer, just a safety that reads "Safe" and "Really Safe."

 

[bogie]

What they oughta do is...

1. drop mag.

2. pull slide back, look in chamber.

3. release slide.

4. point at own crotch, and pull trigger.

This would have the effect of (1) ensuring that folks would _really_ pay attention and (2) ensuring that folks too stupid to pay attention would darwin themselves.

 

[dev_null]

Score another one for the Glunk.

-0-

 

[Hillman]

Fuller, 48, has been Andrew’s personal bodyguard for 12 years and previously worked with the Queen and Princess Anne. Protection officers are armed with Austrian-made Glock semi-automatic pistols, which fire steel-jacketed rounds at 1,350ft per second.

/sarcasm=on/
I'm confused. I thought firearms were against the law in England. If I believe what the gun control crowd wants me to believe, that in and of itself would eliminate crime. And since there is no crime, why would the Royal Family need armed bodyguards? Why can't they use the highly-touted 'rubber bullet'? Then again, there is no violent crime, so why the need?
/sarcasm=off/

I suppose there, as it is here, "some are more equal than others", or something to that effect.

 

[jhisaac1]

<barneyfife>
Should I put my bullet in Andy?
</barneyfife>

 

[Roadkill Coyote]

"In 2001, PC Michael Aldridge fired a shot from his Glock pistol as he checked it in at the end of his shift at Buckingham Palace just after the Queen had left for Windsor. No one was injured."

"Regulations are understood to state that unless absolutely necessary, armed officers should not load, unload or clean their weapons inside royal households. That is supposed to be carried out in a designated armoury."

It appears that they are working under a policy that prevents them from practicing on their own time, because they are required to turn in the guns before they go home, and gunhandling is forbidden at work as well. Their system appears absolutely dependent on scheduled formal training. Hey, would this be one of them bad-planning-single-point-failure thingees?