Leave it to the French... "Shooting demo uses real bullets, injures 16"

[Rightwinger]

This guy was soooooo French !

If intentional, he couldn't even finish what he started wounding eveyone with a military rifle !

If an accident, how could he not know he was getting a bunch more recoil, noise, screams, gnashing of teeth...etc.

SHOOTER FAIL !

[Daniel]

if its 5.56 the blanks arent really much louder or recoil more.

[bteague2]

A Defense Ministry official said the incident occurred during a demonstration of hostage-freeing techniques at the Laperrine military barracks.

Shouldn't it read 16 OpFor injured, or do the French not get that you shoot the bad guys not the hostages.

[Marswolf]

Remind me to never become a hostage in France.

[Rightwinger]

if its 5.56 the blanks arent really much louder or recoil more.

They must have better blanks now than they did in the 80s. When we weren't caught throwing the damn blank shells away and HAD to dirty...I mean fire the weapon, they sounded more like paper caps than any actual shot. We used to take the blank adaptors off and cycle by hand so we could actually hear a noise.

At least they have a weapon that was fired before it was dropped...they can study it

[Guest nj.piney]

french sniper 37 shots no kills

any other sniper 1 shot 1 kill

[molonlabetn]

It must have been an accident... nobody in the french military has ever used their weapon 'successfully' on purpose.

[Fivestring63]

If they use blank adaptors on their rifles like on the M-16, it wouldn't shoot live rounds unless the first one blew the adaptor off which would be hard to do without bursting the barrel.

Here's a funny one of a beach landing you may have seen before.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=g-yUPWlUSJU

[Marswolf]

If they use blank adaptors on their rifles like on the M-16, it wouldn't shoot live rounds unless the first one blew the adaptor off which would be hard to do without bursting the barrel.

They make what is called a "Hollywood BFA" that is not visible. I had one and always checked to make sure it wasn't in the barrel. But no military unit should be using them.

BTW, the video looks how things actually happen.

Edited July 8, 2008 by Marswolf

[Fivestring63]

Thats funny, I can't find the story on CNN now. Was it too PC incorrect to run it???

[Guest airbornefox]

Wasn't that French unit going to Afghanistan in a couple of months too? Guess they'll be using blanks the entire time they are their cause that soldier used up all the live ammo they had!

[threeshot]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/01/AR2008070102153.html

French Army Chief Quits Over Shooting

Gen. Bruno Cuche was French army chief of staff for two years. (Franck Prevel - AP)

By John Ward Anderson

Washington Post Foreign Service

Wednesday, July 2, 2008; A10

PARIS, July 1 -- France's army chief of staff resigned Tuesday after a bizarre shooting earlier this week in which 17 people were wounded when a soldier taking part in a mock hostage rescue sprayed the civilian audience with live gunfire. Military authorities said the soldier apparently believed his weapon was loaded with blanks.

Gen. Bruno Cuche, the army chief for two years, offered his resignation to President Nicolas Sarkozy, who accepted it, according to a statement from the president's office.

Sarkozy, who visited some of the wounded in the hospital on Monday, was bluntly critical of the incident, saying it was the result of "unacceptable negligence." He called for a swift and "severe" response.

The incident occurred Sunday at the army's Laperrine military barracks in Carcassonne, southwest France, during a public exhibition of how soldiers would respond to a hostage crisis. Hundreds of people, including many with relatives serving in the barracks, reportedly went to the base on its special "open day" to watch the drama.

Toward the end of the demonstration, which according to press accounts included an actor playing the role of a terrorist intermingled with the audience, a soldier trained his assault rifle on the crowd and opened fire, wounding 17 people, including 15 civilians, among them at least three children. None of the wounded sustained life-threatening injuries, although several were in serious condition, including a 3-year-old boy.

French defense officials said that the soldier who shot at the crowd -- a 28-year-old sergeant from the Third Marine Parachute Regiment identified only by his first name, Nicolas -- was taken into custody after the shootings. They said he had no history of behavioral or psychological problems.

"According to his early statements, it appears that he made a mistake while loading his gun," a local prosecutor, Brice Robin, told reporters. "This act was absolutely not premeditated."

On Monday, Defense Minister Hervé Morin told France Info radio that the soldier had apparently first fired a magazine of blanks and then inexplicably reloaded with a magazine containing live bullets.

Typically, magazines with live bullets are colored differently than those containing blanks, making it difficult to confuse them, Morin said. He described the soldier as experienced, with an unblemished record.

A statement by the Defense Ministry said the incident highlighted "grave deficiencies in the use of ammunition and in the security of public demonstrations held at regiments' open days" events.

Morin had called for immediate sanctions "without waiting for the conclusions of the judicial and military investigations."

After the resignation of Cuche, 60, Morin praised him in an interview on RTL radio as "a truly great soldier" who had "acknowledged his role as leader and his responsibility as leader." Elaborating at a news conference, Morin said Cuche felt the incident "revealed organizational defaults, malfunctionings."