LGPD’s Maxwell Wins Officer of the Year Award in Houston

The 100 Club of Houston presented La Grange Police Officer Mitchell Maxwell with an Officer of the Year Award at their annual banquet on May 22.

Maxwell saved the life of his fellow officer, Kevin Currington, on May 9, 2024, after Currington’s service pistol inexplicably discharged inside of the holster. The bullet struck an artery in Currington’s leg and he nearly bled to death. Maxwell responded to the scene. Maxwell with assistance from a citizen who lived nearby, Michael Pechal, applied tourniquets to Currington’s leg to stop the bleeding. Currington had lost three pints of blood during the ordeal. Fayette County EMS credited Maxwell and Pechal with saving Currington’s life.

It just so happened that La Grange Police Chief David Gilbreath issued new tourniquets to his officers and ordered them all to undergo training just before the incident happened.

The 100 Club, founded in 1953, supports the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who are killed or seriously injured in the line of duty. The organization serves an 18-county area around Houston. Every year they host a Heroes Banquet where the Continued from front

organization recognizes outstanding law enforcement officers and firefighters.

Maxwell was among 47 officers and firefighters who received 100 Club Awards this year. 100 Club President Ray Garcia and Executive Director William Skeen presented him with a Sig Sauer P229 9mm pistol.

Currington’s service weapon, a Sig Sauer P320, has been the subject of dozens of lawsuits due to unintentional discharges like the one Currington suffered.

The P320 pistol became a popular service weapon for law enforcement departments after the US Army adopted it as a standard sidearm in 2017. However, the Army required Sig Sauer to include a manual external safety switch due to problems identified during testing. That version of the pistol became known as the M17. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) adopted the non-safety version of the P320 in 2018. Many law enforcement agencies around the state followed suit, including La Grange Police Department and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. Law enforcement officials preferred common firearms across agencies for interoperability. Officers from different agencies involved in a gunfight could swap magazines or pick up a downed officer’s weapon and know how to use it.

However, earlier this year, DPS dropped the non-safety P320 in favor of the M17 military version with the manual safety.

Currington, along with Hunter Gally, another Texas police officer injured in a similar manner, filed a lawsuit in federal court against Sig Sauer in January. They want the court to find the gun manufacturer liable for negligence and product liability. Currington and Gally, along with dozens of other plaintiffs in separate lawsuits, allege that Sig Sauer knew about problems involving unintentional discharges when the Army identified them during testing. Moreover, Sig Sauer offered a “voluntary upgrade program” for the Sig Sauer P320 beginning in 2017 to address concerns about the gun discharging when accidentally dropped. However, the company did not issue a recall. The Currington and Gally lawsuit alleges this voluntary upgrade program was a way for the company to deflect liability.

Currington and Gally seek damages for medical expenses, loss of employment, emotional distress and more.

Sig Sauer recently filed a motion asking the court to sever the lawsuit, which would require Currington and Gally to sue individually. The company also filed a motion to dismiss a portion of their allegations involving intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. In a ruling last week, the judge denied both of those motions, allowing the case to proceed.