A Florida man who worked for the Saint Petersburg Police Department is now looking for another job after he had a negligent discharge- with a weapon he wasn’t authorized to bring to work.
Civilian forensic technician Scott Hughes’ decade-long career came to an abrupt end after he negligently discharged his personal AR-15 on June 17, firing a round out of the building and across the street.
“Everyone needs a reminder once in awhile, but it should be self-explanatory that you should not be bringing a weapon to a workplace,” St. Petersburg Police Chief Tony Holloway said. “Especially a weapon like that.”
Despite regulations against doing so, Hughes had reportedly been stowing his rifle away in his locker for years under the blessing of his previous supervisor, who retired about two years ago. The newer supervisor claims ignorance as to Hughes’ actions.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, a command review board determined that Hughes violated a city rule forbidding all civilian employees from bringing firearms onto city property, which in turn led to a second violation involving competence.
Hughes was regularly seen with firearms cases, though it was not uncommon for Hughes to be seen with firearms due to the regularity in which he guns confiscated from crime scenes into the building for analysis.
Hughes’ little slip up marks the first time in almost thirty years that a civilian is reported to have discharged a weapon on police property.
