St. Louis Police Officer Charged In 'Russian Roulette' Shooting

Some in the media describe the death of Saint Louis police officer Katlyn Alix as an “accident.” They use that term for one simple reason; no one meant to shoot her so far as they can tell.

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Still, Alix is dead and a fellow officer pulled the trigger.

More than that, the officer apparently meant to pull the trigger. That’s not an accident, that’s outright negligence because the officers–the very people anti-gunners tell us are the only ones we should trust with guns–broke every rule of gun safety and now a fellow officer is dead.

A St. Louis police officer was charged with manslaughter Friday for allegedly shooting a colleague as the two played Russian roulette, authorities said.

Officer Nathaniel Hendren, 29, shot Officer Katlyn Alix, 24, in his apartment in the city’s Carondelet neighborhood early Thursday in the presence of a third officer, police said.

Hendren was charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, police said. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

Alix was off duty at the time of the shooting, police said. Hendren and his partner were on duty. All three were in Hendren’s apartment shortly before 1 a.m.

Hendren emptied the cylinder of the revolver and then put one cartridge back in, police said in a probable cause statement. He spun the cylinder, pointed it away and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire.

Alix then took the gun, pointed it at Hendren and pulled the trigger without it firing, police said.

Hendren’s partner told Hendren and Alix “that they shouldn’t be playing with guns and that they were police officers,” police said in the statement.

“He felt uncomfortable with them playing with guns and didn’t want to have any part of it and started to leave.”

Hendren took the gun back and pulled the trigger.

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The partner had apparently left the room but not the apartment when he heard the gunshot.

Honestly, there’s so much wrong with this it’s not even funny. A lot of the questions are trivial at this point. Right now, the biggest is what kind of moron thinks Russian Roulette is something you should do?

All sorts of people become police officers. Some are hardworking, caring people who want to make their communities safer. Others are folks just looking for a job and don’t care one way or another. Still, others are scumbags who see the badge as a way to get ahead.

And yes, some idiots become police officers.

I look at this and think about the fact that we have an officer accused of killing a fellow officer through a stupid game that anyone with more than three semi-functional brain cells knows not to do, and I’m constantly told that I shouldn’t be trusted with guns, that I should let the police handle all of my safety needs.

I know that officers like this are the exception, not the rule, but those exceptions are always going to exist. Why should I gamble my safety and my family’s safety on the hope that I won’t get an exception on the day I really need it?

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