Police close investigation into instructor’s firearm in Central NY safety course

Liverpool, NY – A live bullet from a bag of practice ammunition was accidentally loaded into a handgun and fired by an instructor during a safety course at Onondaga Community College, police said.

The shot fired in January at the OCC’s Liverpool building was accidental, and the instructor, an off-duty Camillus police officer, committed no crime, according to a New York State Police investigation into the incident, according to Camillus Police Chief Michael Schreyer.

The weapon was fired during a demonstration of a non-functioning handgun, Schreyer said Thursday. The class was held at the OCC building at 8015 Oswego Road.

The instructor, Captain James Nightingale, had the gun pointed at a wall and away from the students when it accidentally went off, Schreyer said. No one was injured.

Before the demonstration, Nightingale and the students examined the bag of practice ammunition – ammunition without gunpowder, the chief said.

However, he said a live cartridge in the pocket was overlooked and inadvertently loaded into the gun.

Schreyer said he did not know how the live ammunition got into the bag. Some practice ammunition could easily be confused with live ammunition, he said.

No Camillus police equipment was used during the safety course, Schreyer said.

While the police were investigating the incident, they temporarily revoked Nightingale’s certification as an instructor for the OCC. That certification has now been reinstated, Schreyer said.

Nightingale was not disciplined, the chief said.

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