Not having a good day?

Ever had a bad day on your motorcycle?

Folks, we love our law enforcement officers, especially the ones who are out there on motorcycles.  The weather has been oppressive here in So Cal, and it’s got to be doubly so for motor officers, bundled up and carrying 35 pounds of gear every time they go out.

This poor guy (an LAPD motor officer) lost his shotgun in what is arguably one of the roughest areas of LA.  Seems the motorcycle gun lock broke and it fell off his motorcycle.   During a search (with an intensity that can only be imagined), one of the police dogs (a shotgun-sniffing hound?) turned on an LAPD officer and bit him so badly he required surgery.   Yikes.  Not a good day.

The story was in the LA Times this morning, and I found it online (grammatical mistakes and all)…

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An LAPD K-9 has been suspended after attacking an LAPD officer that was part of a frantic search for a LAPD motorcycle officer’s missing a loaded tactical shotgun.

A search for an officer’s loaded shotgun turned up empty Thursday night nearly 12 hours after the weapon fell off a police motorcycle in South Los Angeles.

The search temporarily shut down streets near W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near South Normandie Avenue in South LA, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

An officer noticed his loaded shotgun had fallen out of its motorcycle holster, prompting dozens of officers to scour the area in search of the weapon.

The LAPD motorcycle in question was supposed to be equipped like this…

… but instead, it looks like this.

Authorities are claiming that the motorcycle was equipped an older horizontal carrier, and the lock on the carrier appears to have failed, possibly from age and wear. The agency is transitioning to vertical carry systems which should offer better retention.

Area residents interviewed by NBC-LA essentially laughed at the efforts of police who were searching for the shotgun. They suggested that it was likely snatched up immediately after hitting the pavement by area residents and that chances someone will turn in the weapon are slim. The area where the police search focused is just five blocks from the intersection of Florence and Normandie, the epicenter of the 1992 Los Angeles riots that saw more than 2,000 people injured and 53 people killed.

This is the second serious incident involving a long gun scabbard on a police motorcycle within the past nine months. In late October, 2013, an Ar-15 attached to a Chino PD motorcycle unit participating in a drug prevention rally at an elementary school wasn’t properly secured and a student fired the rifle into the ground, causing several minor injuries.

The police officer who was bitten by the K-9 during yesterday’s search required surgery, and is recovering.

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A tough day, indeed.   We hope the officer who was bitten recovers quickly.   As for finding that shotgun, somehow I don’t think so…