A Notts Police officer is said to have offered a live gun to a seven-year-old girl for a photo moments before firing the weapon by mistake.
An inspector’s report has also uncovered that the force had ‘no policies’ on demonstrating guns before the incident on October 30 last year.
The girl and her family visiting force headquarters at Sherwood Lodge, near Arnold, as part of a prize for taking part in a colouring competition.
They were meeting specialist officers in a demonstration event when an officer fired the gun into the ground by accident.
The girl suffered a minor injury to her lip after being hit by the bullet casing as it was discharged from the gun,
Investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) then launched a wide-ranging review of what happened.
The have now concluded “no protocols or policies were in place, prior to the incident, which dealt with the use of firearms at public events”.
The seriousness of this matter cannot be underestimated
The final report by the IPCC also recommended the force ends live firearms demonstrations by operational officers, and training weapons and non-operational officers should be used instead.
The document also shows the girl’s mother complained the gun “was offered to her daughter for a photo in an apparently live state prior to the discharge”.
IPCC Commissioner Derrick Campbell said: “The seriousness of this matter cannot be underestimated. It is through good fortune that no one was more seriously injured. The officer’s actions, while not deliberate, posed a genuine risk to those present.
“A number of sensible, logical recommendations have been made which the force has accepted, including replacing live firearms with training weapons at future public events.”
The force has previously apologised to the girl and her family, and senior officers are expected to respond to the report later today.
Picture: A G36 Carbine, similar to the one fired by the officer (Photo: Rizuan under CC licence)
The IPCC’s report also shows the force at first decided not to release details of the incident to the public and media.
According to the report: “The decision taken at inspector level was that there should be an ‘if asked’ approach unless something came out in the media or on social media. The statement was amended to reflect this.”
It was not until November 6 that the force released a statement, after being contacted by the Nottingham Post.
When interviewed, the officer involved told investigators he could not recall offering the girl the gun for a photo, adding: “that’s not to say that it maybe didn’t happened, its certainly something I don’t recall.”
The officer who fired the gun has since been deployed to another role.
