Rookie NYPD Officer Leaves Gun Unattended, Friend Picks It Up And Shoots Self In Neck

Photo Copyright : Fernando Gregory Milan / 123RF

The two were playing video games late at night. One an NYPD Officer on the job for just six months, the other his friend.

The officer had apparently left his firearm on the table, and the friend picked it up to check it out.

Housing Bureau Officer Martinson Afariyeboah allegedly set his gun on a coffee table inside his pal Frederick Afoakwah’s high-rise apartment on Mosholu Parkway near Jerome Avenue during a pre-dawn session of FIFA Soccer Sunday, according to police sources and the victim’s father.

The 21-year-old neighbor — who lives next door to the officer, on the building’s 17th floor — picked up the gun to “inspect it” and it accidentally discharged, according to police. He fired one bullet into his own neck, waking up his parents, who were asleep nearby.

via nypost.com

Afoakwah was taken to the hospital where he later died.

For an officer, or any armed citizen, keeping your firearm properly secured is an important step to responsible gun ownership. Even if I have friends over, I am not going to leave a firearm (especially loaded) out for anyone to grab. Unless we are specifically doing something with that firearm (cleaning, inspecting, etc.), there should be no need to have it out in such a fashion.

We can control what we ourselves do, but we cannot control the actions of others. Whether or not Afoakwah had experience with firearms is unknown, but unless I’m at a range, I would never let anyone pick up my firearm when it was loaded.