By Allen Powell II
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2007 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
A Gretna police officer accidentally shot himself in the chest Thursday afternoon, and remains in intensive care at West Jefferson Medical Center after losing a massive amount of blood.
Sgt. Raymond Lasseigne, a 15-year veteran, was in stable condition late Thursday afternoon after wounding himself with his personal weapon at the Gretna Police Department headquarters shortly after noon, Police Chief Arthur Lawson Jr. said.
Lasseigne shot himself in his office at the police station after he tripped and fell while removing a Sig .40-caliber handgun from his desk, Lawson said. Lasseigne, the commander of Gretna’s community policing division, had the bullet enter his chest, exit through his side and sever a major artery in his arm, Lawson said.
He was treated and rushed to the hospital by emergency medical technicians who were at the Police Department, which Lawson said probably saved his life. The Gretna police complex also houses the city’s emergency medical staff.
“Had this incident happened anywhere other than at the police complex ... I think that the circumstances would have been much more grim than they are,” the chief said.
The shooting may have been a result of a manufacturer’s defect in the handgun, because the weapon’s safety was on at the time of the accident, Lawson said. The handgun was Lasseigne’s personal weapon, which he carried in addition to his standard service weapon, Lawson said.
The department was overwhelmed by the response from other law enforcement agencies and volunteer fire departments to the call for blood for Lasseigne, Lawson said. The Police Department will have a mobile blood unit at the police complex at 200 Fifth St. throughout the day Sunday for anyone who wants to donate blood, Lawson said.
It is unclear whether there will be permanent damage to Lasseigne’s arm because of the shooting, Lawson said.