Body cam shows Hobart-Lawrence officer accidentally shooting himself when exiting his patrol vehicle
By: “It was me! I need a tourniquet!”
We’re now learning more about a situation when a Hobart-Lawrence officer’s gun went off, shooting him in the leg during a police chase.
Police released footage from Officer Samuel Schroeder’s body and dash cameras from early December.
Officers were asked to check on a person’s welfare. Officer Schroeder pulled that person over after a short pursuit, then was hurt when his gun fired. The video shows him falling to the ground shortly after a gun goes off.
A closer inspection of the video shows Officer Schroeder’s finger was inside the trigger guard. Hobart-Lawrence Police Chief Michael Renkas tells our sister station WISN Officer Schroeder couldn’t explain that but denied doing anything outside his training. Renkas said the gun was inspected by Nelson Tactical in Green Bay, which couldn’t find any problem with the gun and couldn’t reproduce the gun firing without using the trigger.
Chief Renkas wrote, “We do not have video of the moment the firearm was discharged; however, the possibility of the discharge being a result of handling the weapon is a consideration.”
The gun is a SIG Sauer -- a company facing lawsuits from wounded officers in several states claiming the gun goes off by itself. Hobart-Lawrence police officers received new Staccato P pistols this year.
In December, the police department told us Officer Schroeder was a 7-year veteran of the department and was expected to make a full recovery.