Instructor injured in sheriff’s use-of-force drill

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A retired sheriff’s officer in Florida was injured when a trainee fired a gun with a blank at him during a use of force training exercise.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Director Tom Hackney says Chip Williams was training 10 officers Wednesday at the Criminal Justice Center in Jacksonville.

The Florida Times-Union reports Williams initially fired a weapon and corrections officer Tyler Kovacs was supposed to respond with his own gun loaded with soap-tipped simulated bullets.

Hackney says Kovacs took the blank gun from the instructor’s waistband and placed it against the instructor’s back and fired. He says there was no projectile, just a blank. But it had gunpowder, which penetrated Williams’ skin.

He says all instructors wear protective gear and it’s the first time an incident such as this has occurred.