After Year-long Legal Battle, SEPTA is Complying With Requests For Evidence in Harrowing 2019 Incident in Which An On-duty Transit Cop's Gun Fired Without Him Touching The Weapon

PHILADELPHIA, March 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a year-long legal battle to enforce three federal subpoenas, lawyers representing wounded users of the allegedly defective Sig Sauer P320 handgun will soon hear testimony from a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) transit officer whose identical service weapon fired without him ever touching the gun. Fortunately, the bullet hit neither Officer Craig Jacklyn, his partner, nor anyone else during the August 26, 2019 evening rush hour in the Suburban Station commuter rail terminal.

Connecticut-based attorney Jeffrey S. Bagnell, along with Robert W. Zimmerman from Philadelphia's Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, P.C. www.smbb.com represent wounded users of the Sig Sauer P320. Their clients include former Kentucky police officer Stephen Mayes, who in October 2018 was wounded in the thigh without touching the trigger of his service-issue P320. The subpoenas ordered the depositions of Officer Jacklyn and his partner, and the disclosure of SEPTA's internal investigation file. Under the subpoenas, SEPTA is also required to provide all relevant investigative reports related to the incident as well as station concourse and bodycam video recordings.

"Officer Jacklyn, a SEPTA police force veteran and former military firearms instructor, had his hands nowhere near his P320 when it suddenly discharged," explained Mr. Bagnell.  "It will be important for juries to hear about cases like this of this gun firing without a trigger pull and injuring people.  Officer Jacklyn, as investigators determined, did nothing wrong. He is deeply concerned about the safety of his fellow officers and the general public. We look forward to finally taking his deposition in the coming days."

Attorney Robert Zimmerman, of SMB, added, "While Officer Jacklyn's testimony is important in the Kentucky case against Sig Sauer ( Mayes v. Sig Sauer, Inc. 2:20-mc-00105-JMY), it is also vital in the newly-filed civil action brought on behalf of injured Federal law enforcement agent  and Pennsylvania resident Keith Slatowski ((Slatowski v. Sig Sauer, Inc. 2:21-cv-00729, 02/17/2021). A pattern has developed over the past several years in which uniformed personnel – law enforcement and military – as well as civilians, were needlessly harmed because of the P320 and the failure of the manufacturer to recall it." Officer Jacklyn's gun was reportedly among certain P320s modified by Sig Sauer in 2018 to correct a "possible mechanical defect."

Attorneys Bagnell and Zimmerman said that since the complaint was filed last week in the Slatowski case, several other concerned P320 owners had contacted them, and in at least two instances the owners reported being wounded without ever engaging the trigger. Additional complaints will be made public following their filings.

An estimated one million P320s have been sold since the gun's introduction in 2014.

Mr. Bagnell www.bagnell-law.com, involved since 2017 in nearly one dozen P320 filed or pending lawsuits against Sig Sauer, also represented former Loudon County, Virginia Sherriff's Deputy Marcie Vadnais. Her career ended in 2018 when, without touching the trigger, her holstered gun fired, shattering her leg.  SMB's Larry Bendesky is also counsel-of-record in the Slatowski case.

Contacts:
Jeffrey S. Bagnell/ [email protected] /203.984.8820
Robert W. Zimmerman/ [email protected] /267.872.3430
Steph Rosenfeld/ [email protected] /215.514.4101

SOURCE Saltz, Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, P.C.