Police gun instructor's accidental death provides a final lesson, but questions linger

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Manny Ortiz was more than just a cop.

By all accounts, he was great at his job. He served for 22 years with the Rochester Police Department and was as an instructor at the police academy, where he taught firearms and defensive tactics to a generation of cadets.

Ortiz was 52 when he accidentally shot himself while driving to work one evening in November. The accidental discharge of his weapon caused his sport utility vehicle to crash into a ravine. Despite heroic efforts by passers-by and responding deputies, Ortiz was declared dead at the scene.

Revered by his fellow law enforcement officers, he was also beloved within the local Hispanic community. Passionate about his Puerto Rican heritage, Ortiz was called on when relationships between that community and the police department were strained.

Ida Perez, director at Ibero Children and Family Stability Services and chair of the Scrantom Street Block Club, called Ortiz one of the best Latino officers in the community.

"The entire Latino community is in mourning," she said.

At his funeral, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said Ortiz had a presence that was larger than life. Police Chief La’Ron Singletary described Ortiz as a person every other officer looked up to and wanted to emulate.

“Manny was a giant in this department,” Singletary said that day. “He was a cop’s cop. He was a true servant of the community and left behind a legacy of love, respect, and service.”

The death of Manny Ortiz death left a huge void, and the unanswered questions about the circumstances of his death have compounded the grief.

How could a veteran police officer and a longtime firearms instructor accidentally shoot himself? Why would a person who was so well versed in gun safety have pulled his weapon out of its holster while driving down a busy road on a dark rainy night?

Could his death serve as a final lesson for the colleagues and community he left behind?

A fatal shot

The Democrat and Chronicle obtained dozens of pages of reports from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office investigation of Ortiz’s death, including first-hand accounts from deputies on the scene, technician’s reports on the evidence collected, and hundreds of photographs taken by police technicians on scene and after.

Other documentation requested, including civilian witness statements referenced in the police incident reports, were not provided by the department. The newspaper is appealing the denial.

The reviewed documents offer no insights into why officer Ortiz’s gun discharged while he was driving, but they do credibly explain how Ortiz was fatally wounded.

Investigators concluded that the gun was out of its holster when it accidentally discharged.

Deputies found Ortiz’s personal firearm, a 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P, on the floorboard on the passenger’s side of the SUV inside a personalized molded waistband holster. Authorities said the holstered weapon was tucked into Ortiz's front waistband; a method known as "appendix inside the waistband" or AIWB. 

The gun was loaded with an eight-round capacity magazine that contained seven rounds, and there was another round in the chamber. An evidence technician noted that the safety was in the off position.

A single 9mm shell casing was also found on the vehicle’s floor.

There was no evidence of a mechanical malfunction. If the pistol had been in the holster when it fired, the shell casing would not have been able to eject from the weapon. The holster, which covers the muzzle, would also have shown some signs of damage. And the holster has a trigger guard, which would have prevented the trigger from being pulled while in its holster.

Evidence photos suggest that the bumpy ride caused some items to bounce around after the vehicle left the road, so it’s not clear whether Ortiz put his gun on the floor or whether it fell there. But it is clear that after accidentally shooting himself, Ortiz had the presence of mind or the training reflex to re-holster his weapon.

He also made a phone call to his fiancée to let her know what had happened in the likely very short time frame between the shot and when his vehicle came to a final stop.

The trajectory of the gunshot is clear based on four points of contact shown in evidence photos. The bullet entered Ortiz’s inner left thigh a few inches below his groin and exited the other side. It grazed the edge of his seat and struck the driver’s side door panel, coming to rest inside the door.  

This trajectory suggests that Ortiz was holding the weapon in his right hand, just above his waistband near his right thigh and aimed slightly downward when the trigger was pulled.

How did the gun fire accidentally?

"We'll never know exactly what occurred inside Manny's car," Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter said in an interview last month. "But the fact is a weapon did discharge inside and the fact is that it did take his life. God forbid if we just don't look at that and go, 'Am I practicing the right practices here? Am I being smart with the tools that I'm issued or the tools that I'm carrying?'"

Appendix carry (AIWB)

The practice of carrying a concealed weapon in the front waistband is not uncommon but it is a subject of intense debate among gun owners. The holster is typically placed off-center, between the pants button and the right pocket near the appendix on the carrier's dominant side; thus the name “appendix carry.” 

One of the advantages of the technique is that it helps keep the weapon well-concealed while providing quick access when needed in a hurry. The disadvantage, of course, is that it leaves the business end of the gun pointed in a dangerous direction. 

"We deal with this type of injury quite commonly here," said Dr. Mark Gestring, director of adult trauma at Strong Hospital Regional Trauma Center. "We see people who carry guns, many times illegally, in their front waistband who have accidentally shot themselves."

Gestring has been recognized nationally as an advocate for the "stop the bleed" program, which trains people on the need to act quickly after a traumatic injury. A person can bleed to death within 3 to 5 minutes, Gestring said.

Ortiz certainly knew that, but the physiological consequences of being shot would have affected his decision-making process.

"Once you start losing blood, you're not connecting the dots," Gestring said. "You get dizzy. You get cloudy. You don't make good decisions. We're talking minutes."

The evidence suggests that's what happened to Ortiz. Shortly after he shot himself, Ortiz’s SUV drifted off the road into a grassy ravine. Despite receiving first aid almost immediately from passers-by, deputies, and paramedics, Ortiz bled to death within minutes of being shot. 

One does not need to look too hard for stories of individuals who accidentally shoot themselves while adjusting a gun from the appendix carry position. Some firearms training schools have banned the technique because of students accidentally shooting themselves when reholstering. The holster can shift uncomfortably, especially while the wearer is sitting. The gun can come out of the holster when a person is trying to adjust it, and a shirttail can easily become entangled with the trigger.

A person’s finger can also come in contact with the trigger as they’re trying to take it out or put it back into the holster. 

Democrat and Chronicle reporters asked Rochester Police Chief Singletary about the appendix carry, and whether Ortiz’s death would prompt any policy changes or directives about the practice. He said it would remain a matter of personal preference.

“It’s up to the individual gun holder as to what they are comfortable with,” Singletary said 

Ortiz’s personal weapon was recovered with its safety in the off position. It’s not clear whether that happened during the accidental shooting or if he carried his personal weapon with the safety off.

That’s another practice that is a matter of debate for civilian gun owners, but fairly common for police officers. In a situation where they’re called upon to use deadly force, they’re likely facing a threat and already at a disadvantage. Disengaging the safety is a step that an officer would have to perform under pressure and takes valuable time.

That’s the same reason why police officers almost universally carry their weapons with a round in the chamber.

Asked whether the Ortiz case might prompt any policy changes, Singletary said it would not.

“With each situation, we look and see what we can do better. And if there are things that we can implement, we would implement those things,” Singletary said. “Right now there isn't anything without knowing exactly what occurred in that car. There's not anything that we can put our finger on, other than to reinforce what we reinforce every year during in-service (training) with regards to safe weapon handling.”

Lessons learned

Based on the physical evidence, including the trajectory of the bullet and the lack of damage to the holster, Baxter has developed a theory of what happened. Ortiz's weapon was out of the holster for some unknown reason.

At the press conference immediately after the accident, Baxter speculated that perhaps Ortiz had needed to adjust the weapon.

"It's fired and he has the wherewithal to holster this thing back up and I don't think he thinks he's got a catastrophic injury at that time," Baxter said in a later interview. "He's calling (his fiancée) and saying, 'I'm heading to the hospital.' So he's doing what we all would do when we go into shock and you don't feel that pain yet. He's like, 'All right, I've got to make this thing safe.' Puts it in the holster where it should be, and before you know it, he's losing blood and consciousness and drifting off to the left.

"With that being said, we still don't absolutely know, and I never want to boldly say any of that besides the actual physical evidence and the time frames."

 Follow Will Cleveland on Twitter @willcleveland13. Follow Sean Lahman on Twitter @seanlahman.