Todays Kearney Hub--More safety training needed.
KEARNEY ? A shot wasn?t fired last week during the hostage situation at Wells Fargo Bank in Kearney. But a shot did ring out in downtown Kearney after the incident ended.
Within about 15 minutes after Jon Buckley, 22, of Minden was taken into custody on suspicion of holding bank employees and customers hostage, a single gunshot echoed throughout downtown Kearney. Kearney Police Department Chief Dan Lynch said Thursday the shot was from one of his snipers? rifles.
During the two-hour incident, three sniper teams of two Kearney Police Department officers each were perched on top of three rooftops surrounding the bank. Two of the snipers were staged on top of Bruce Furniture at 2026 Central Ave., just south of the bank.
Lynch said the snipers were disassembling their position when a single shot discharged from one officer?s Remington rifle down into the Bruce Furniture roof. Lynch said the officer was holding the weapon properly when it went off.
?The officer?s hands were very cold, and basically his glove got in the trigger guard, and the gun discharged into the roof of the building,? Lynch said.
The bullet lodged in the roof above the north entrance to the store and did not penetrate the roof. Damage was estimated at less than $200, Lynch said.
The hole was patched later that day.
Mike Bruce of Bruce Furniture declined to comment.
Lynch said the officer, whom he refused to identify, wasn?t wearing a glove on his shooting hand during the 2?-hour incident, although he wore a glove on the opposite hand.
?It was his off hand that accidentally discharged the gun,? Lynch said.
KPD has had snipers for decades, but Lynch wasn?t sure how long the officer had been a part of the team. The officer, like all KPD snipers, is certified and trains on a regular basis both on his own and with the department?s Emergency Services Unit team.
The matter was internally investigated and handled, Lynch said.
He declined to elaborate further.
?In fairness to this individual, had it not been two hours out in the cold, I don?t think this would?ve ever occurred,? Lynch said.
Buckley is accused of walking into Wells Fargo Bank at 10:57 a.m. Feb. 10 with a sawed-off shotgun and asking for media attention after being fired Feb. 3 from his job at NTV television station.
He?s charged in Buffalo County Court with five counts of felony kidnapping with the intent to terrorize, one count of felony robbery and one count of using a firearm, a loaded sawed-off shotgun, to commit a felony. Buckley is being held at the Buffalo County Detention Center on a $1 million cash bond.
