Court officer shot himself with concealed gun

MERRIMACK – No other court officers carry a backup weapon as Logan Crocker did on the day he shot himself in the foot, but he was nonetheless authorized to have it at work and had a permit and training, police said in an investigative report released Thursday.

The weapon that discharged last month on Crocker, a Merrimack District Court officer, and wounded his left foot wasn’t the sidearm on his hip holster but a second firearm that he concealed in an ankle holster, the report said.

That second weapon, a 25-caliber Beretta, discharged as he adjusted his belt while working July 31 at the district courthouse, the report said.

The case is still open. A state laboratory is analyzing the Beretta’s functionality and also studying the holster and the bullet that lodged in the floor. Police have said they believe the shooting was accidental, although the report doesn’t definitively make that conclusion.

Rather, the narrative of witness accounts in the report state that Crocker adjusted his belt while talking to another court officer and then heard “a pop sound.”

Crocker, a 26-year-old Nashua resident, didn’t realize what had happened, and instantly looked down the hallway near the clerk’s window where he was standing, the report said. Crocker then felt a pain in his foot and realized the Beretta had discharged while in the ankle holster, police said.

In the days after the shooting, police didn’t reveal that Crocker carried a second weapon. Rather, police said only it was a holstered gun that discharged.

Four people witnessed the incident, the report said. The entry way in which court officers check people’s possessions before they enter the building and the window to the clerk’s office is a narrow area. No one else was injured.

Merrimack District Court officers do not work for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office, unlike officers at Nashua District Court. County sheriff officers transport prisoners, and Merrimack court officers are responsible for other areas of security.

The supervisor of court officers told police that Crocker was trained by certified firearm instructors and has the required permit to carry the Beretta.

The manager also said that no one under his command carries “two guns, especially a back up gun,” the report said.