East Haven police investigate after detective accidentally fires weapon Detective allegedly fired weapon while cleaning it in her home

EAST HAVEN >> Police are investigating after one of their detectives allegedly discharged her weapon by accident while in her home last week and hit a neighbor’s house, according to Lt. David Emerman.

“The Department is aware of the incident and is investigating as per Department policy,” said Emerman in an email. “I can provide further information once the investigation has been completed.”

Emerman did not give further details about what the department’s policy is for an officer firing his or her weapon off-duty.

According to the neighbor’s account, confirmed by Emerman, Detective Shirley Conyers was in her home on Sept. 24 cleaning her firearm when it accidentally discharged, sending a bullet through the window of the neighbor’s home.

No one was injured during the incident. The neighbor, who asked to not be identified, said he will not press charges.

Multiple attempts to contact Conyers were unsuccessful.

Neighbors living in surrounding houses said they were not aware of the incident and did not hear the gunshot.

According to John DeCarlo, associate professor and criminal justice researcher at University of New Haven and former Branford police chief, an accidental discharge is possible any time an officer removes the gun from its holster, which is common.

“Very often weapons are presented, usually every day at roll call, so it comes into the holster and out of the holster at least once a day and it adds to the fact that there is an accidental discharge,” said DeCarlo.

Officers are free to bring their firearms home and are taught proper gun care, DeCarlo said, including how to safely clean one, which needs to be done after every time it’s fired.

The first step when cleaning a gun is to clear the firearm by making sure there is no ammunition in the chamber and the magazine is removed, DeCarlo said.

“What you would do is disassemble the gun,” he said. “After the weapon is cleared and made safe, you brush the parts and wipe it with a cloth.”

Any time a weapon goes off, DeCarlo said, accidentally or not, the officer will file a report of it and the department will do an investigation. The protocol for towns varies as departments each have their own.

“The fact is that there is no state law that governs an investigation or specific protocol for discharge,” DeCarlo said.

DeCarlo said, statistically, accidents like this are bound to happen because of the number of police officers and weapons.

“In Connecticut, we have about 9,000 police officers,” Decarlo said. “Each one of these officers carry a firearm and it is unavoidable that at times there is going to be an accidental discharge.”