U.S. sailor accidentally fires shots from docked ship in Poland

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — A U.S. official says an American sailor on Wednesday accidentally fired three shots from a machine gun aboard a Navy ship docked in Gdynia, Poland.

The incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. while the sailor was doing routine maintenance on a M240 machine gun on the Norfolk, Va.-based USS Ramage, U.S. Navy 6th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Scott Miller said. Three rounds were fired.

"There was no known damage. There was no evidence of a building being impacted. As far as we know nothing was hit," Miller said.

The Navy is cooperating with a Polish military police investigation, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is looking into the shooting, Miller said. It is unclear if any criminal charges will be filed.

The incident came on the heels of the Ramage’s participation in the Joint Warrior Exercise, which involved several Allied countries’ navies. It happened on the last day of the Ramage’s port visit to Gdynia, and it did not delay the ship’s departure, Miller said.

"It’s unfortunate at the end of an otherwise perfect port visit that you would have something like this. We certainly regret the incident," Miller said.

"We take it seriously. Thank goodness no one got hurt in this case."

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>>>http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65742

I bet someone is in deep doo doo.

Crossbolt safeties, worst design ever. Combined with poor training.

The early M1 Carbine had them as well. God knows how many poeple have been shot over the years due to confusion over whether a weapon is on safe or not.

IIRC a Kosovar child was cut in half by a US SAW Gunner accidentally when the gunner forgot which way was safe.

Sad thing is its an easy retrofit for a rotary safety.

At the Least, gunners should be taught to hold the bolt charging handle to the rear, while Loading or unloading so the bolt cant strip a round from the link and chamber/fire it.