Federal Agent Loses His Gun In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- It has happened again, another Bay Area law enforcement officer has lost his gun.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent in San Francisco's Ingleside neighborhood admits he set his pistol and cellphone on the roof of his car Friday morning and drove off.
KPIX 5 security analyst Jeff Harp spent years in the FBI where he taught other agents the proper way to handle their weapon. He says you always hate to hear about a gun being lost or stolen.
"You always maintain control of that weapon. Whether it's in the holster or in your hand, you never set that weapon down because you never want to lose control of it," said Harp.
The lost gun is a .40 caliber Heckler and Koch pistol. According to the manufacturer, this gun is "favored by many military and law-enforcement units." Criminals would favor it too, no doubt.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a Bay Area federal agent has lost a gun that later wound up in a criminal's hands.
In July, a gun stolen from an agent's car was used to shoot and kill Kate Steinle on San Francisco's Pier 14. In September, a muralist was shot to death in Oakland with a gun stolen from an immigration officer's vehicle.
Harp says if it happens, the first thing to do is tell law enforcement, which is what has happened in the Ingleside case. Still, the gun could very well end up in the wrong hands.
"Unfortunately, guns are worth money, guns are used in crimes, so it's going to be tough probably to recover the gun."
Officials at ICE said they are conducting their own investigation.
