DETROIT, MI

— In the glass gun case at Target Sports in Royal Oak is the exact same gun issued to Detroit police officers.

It's

gun that a Detroit police officer says

while holstered to his waist during a fish fry at his home about 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning killing 24-year-old Adaisha Miller.

Police say the firearm accidentally discharged into Miller's chest when she embraced the officer while dancing behind his back.

"That's pretty much impossible," says Ray Jihad, 43, of Rochester Hills, a gun expert who owns Target Sports shooting range and gun shop at 30482 Woodward in Royal Oak. "The gun will not go off on its own. You can drop it, you can throw it, you can do whatever you want, guns don't accidentally go off.

"You've got to put your finger on the trigger in order for it to shoot and whoever says that is trying to get out of something."

Jihad said he has worked in the gun business for 20 years and began using guns when he was about 7.

The gun is a 15-shot, 4.5-inch barrel,

made specifically with military and police use in mind. It requires 6.5 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger.

"I think he took it out and he was showing it," said Jihad, exhibiting how the trigger is protected in a holster. "You can't get your finger in there. The only way is the gun came out and it was pointing at someone."

Jihad wore various holsters and tried to replicate how the incident might have happened, but said he doesn't understand unless the gun was removed from the holster, which Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. said the investigation indicates it was not.

"A lot of guns these days have internal safeties," Jihad said. "They don't have 'on and 'off' safety switches... The safety is in the trigger, so if it gets caught on something, if you're not gripping it right, it's not going to squeeze."

Jihad displayed the police-model handgun's segmented trigger, which is meant to ensure it does not fire unless pressure is applied evenly where one's finger would be placed if the gun is held by the grip.

Godbee said the police-issued guns are not equipped with a traditional safety switch or button and the safety mechanism is built into the trigger.

The holster's trigger guard was made from a "very soft, neoprene-type of material," Godbee said. "The trigger protection on it... it's possible still for the trigger to be manipulated with that type of holster."

Godbee said he chose to conduct a press conference and answer questions about the incident to exhibit transparency and to offer condolences to the family.

Godbee declined to say if the victim, officer or others at the fish fry had been consuming alcohol.

"Based on the preliminary findings" and witness statements, Miller embraced the officer from behind and her hands grazed the weapon, Godbee said. "We are early in our investigation, we have not reached final conclusions on anything."

Jihad said gun powder residue evidence should reveal if someone's hand pulled the trigger and if it was discharged from concealed beneath the officer's clothing.

Upon completion of an Internal Affairs investigation, Godbee said the matter would be presented to the Wayne County Prosecutor and state police will handle forensic testing related to the matter, although state police they have not engaged in a full independent investigation.

The unidentified officer has been placed on restricted administrative status while the shooting is fully investigated, the chief said.

Miller's family

she had been celebrating her 25th birthday, which was to be Monday.

Jihad asks a man in a suit who is leaving the shooting range if guns go off by themselves. The man identified himself as a third-year law student who is studying to become a lawyer and declined to provide his name.

"There are two things that always get said after negligent discharge," says the firearm owner. "Either, A, 'I thought it was unloaded, or, B, 'Oh my God, it just went off by itself.'"

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