LG Police Officer’s Life Saved After Gunshot Wound

His Weapon Discharged While Secure in Holster; Same Pistol has Been Involved in Similar Incidents Nationwide

A La Grange Police Officer suffered a life-threatening gunshot wound last Thursday after his duty weapon discharged while secure in his holster.

The pistol, a SIG Sauer P320, has been the subject of several lawsuits due to similar incidents across the nation.

La Grange Police Chief David Gilbreath said Patrolman Kevin Currington was locking the gates at Northside Park last Thursday, May 9, around 7:30 p.m. Currington was walking between the gate and his police car when the gun fired from his holster. Gilbreath said Currington had not touched the gun or the holster when it fired.

The bullet struck Currington in his right leg below the knee, hitting an artery and a bone.

Currington called for help over the radio. Officer Mitchell Maxwell arrived first to the scene. Gilbreath said Maxwell and a private citizen who lived in the area rendered lifesaving aid to Currington, who was bleeding profusely. They attached two tourniquets to his leg above the wound and stopped the bleeding.

“They definitely saved his life,” Gilbreath said. “We can’t thank them enough.”

Fayette County EMS arrived and transported Currington to St. David’s Hospital in South Austin. Fayette County EMS Director Josh Vandever said a Travis County EMS commander met the ambulance along the way to deliver a unit of blood. The EMS commander left his vehicle on the side of the road and hopped into the ambulance to assist the Fayette County medics working on the wounded officer.

“The relationships between EMS agencies and ability to deliver blood was critical in ensuring a good outcome,” Vandever said.

Currington underwent surgery and is expected to recover. However, Gilbreath said he may not be able to return to duty for six to eight months. Gilbreath said Currington was in good spirits and may be able to return home before the end of this week.

Just six months ago, Vandever said, Gilbreath issued tourniquets for all of his officers and ordered them to attend a tourniquet training class.

“Chief Gilbreath is a really humble guy and won’t take credit for it, but he deserves praise for being so proactive,” Vandever said.

“The citizen on the scene knew what to do,” Vandever added. “Officer Maxwell had the training and equipment. We were able to get some blood on the way to the hospital. All of that came together for a really good outcome.”

Deputies with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety also responded to assist Currington Thursday night. Gilbreath thanked all of them for their rapid response.

Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office will conduct an independent investigation into the incident, Gilbreath said. He said body-worn camera video from the responding officers showed that Currington’s gun was in the holster when they arrived. He said the video shows Maxwell securing Currington’s gun. Maxwell had to eject the empty shell casing from the chamber, which Gilbreath said proves the gun was locked into Currington’s holster and thus unable to cycle. Gilbreath said there is no way for anything to touch the trigger while it was in the holster.

SIG Sauer has faced dozens of lawsuits across the country involving so-called “uncommanded discharges” of the P320 pistol. An article published last year by The Trace, a nonprofit media outlet focused on gun violence, identified “dozens” of lawsuits brought against SIG Sauer because of the P320 and at least five that resulted in settlements from the manufacturer. According to the article, SIG Sauer had won two cases on summary judgment and one that reached a jury trial as of April 2023. The Record tried to reach SIG Sauer for comment about Officer Currington’s injury, but they had not responded by the time this issue went to press.

La Grange Police Department adopted the SIG Sauer P320 as its service weapon about two years ago following its adoption by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.

“The thinking at the time was that if you’re in a firefight, you want everyone to have the same guns, the same ammo, the same magazines,” Gilbreath said.

Gilbreath said some of his officers have expressed concern about carrying their duty weapons following the incident. Gilbreath said he is already looking into replacing them with another brand.

Lt. David Beyer of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said his department is also concerned.

“We definitely don’t want to put our officers in danger,” Beyer said. “It’s going to take some time. We can’t just up and switch all at one time.”

Beyer said law enforcement leaders have to weigh budget constraints, training requirements and officer preferences when choosing service weapons. Beyer said outfitting all of the deputies with new service weapons, holsters and accessories would cost upwards of $30,000.

“We haven’t had any issues with them,” Beyer said. “All of our deputies pretty much like their SIGs.”

Furthermore, he said that out of hundreds of thousands of handguns sold, only a few in the entire nation have had problems.

“But don’t get me wrong, one is too many,” he said.