A Secret Service agent assigned to Jill Biden’s protecting element shot himself within the butt at Philadelphia Worldwide Airport final Friday morning, and the story behind the how is nearly too embarrassing to sort.
In keeping with RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree, the agent left his telephone behind in an SUV whereas escorting Biden into the airport. He rushed again to retrieve it and, apparently missing a flashlight, drew his Glock and used the weapon-mounted gentle to seek for the telephone. When he rapidly re-holstered, he despatched a 9mm spherical into his personal bottom.
UPDATE: Further new particulars in regards to the junior @SecretService agent who shot himself final Friday morning throughout a motion on the Philly airport with Jill Biden: The agent left his telephone behind within the SUV whereas escorting Jill Biden into the airport. He rushed again to get his… https://t.co/AAxUwZkMcZ pic.twitter.com/OTkUTG8GLe
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) March 30, 2026
The Secret Service confirmed the agent “suffered a non-life-threatening harm following a negligent discharge whereas dealing with a service weapon on the Philadelphia Worldwide Airport throughout a protecting project.” When pressed by reporters on whether or not the agent was utilizing the weapon gentle as a utility gentle, a authorities spokesperson didn’t deny it — simply stated they “didn’t have that data.” Basic.
Let’s be clear on terminology, since mainstream shops apparently can’t handle it: this was not an accident. An accident is unforeseeable. This was negligence — a foreseeable end result of doing one thing you shouldn’t be doing with a loaded firearm.
The core failure right here is painfully fundamental. A weapon-mounted gentle shouldn’t be a flashlight. It’s not a instrument for looking your automotive for a misplaced iPhone. Each competent defensive firearms teacher teaches {that a} WML dietary supplements a devoted handheld gentle — it doesn’t substitute it. The rule is easy: if it’s good to illuminate one thing that doesn’t additionally should be shot, don’t level your gun at it.
The second failure is equally basic. The second you begin dealing with your loaded firearm for administrative, non-tactical causes, your ND danger goes up sharply. Fidgeting with a gun — drawing it for no good purpose, hurrying to re-holster it — is strictly how rounds find yourself the place they shouldn’t. Firearms coach John Farnam has been saying for forty years that roughly 95% of negligent discharges occur when somebody is twiddling with their gun. This incident does nothing to problem that determine.
It is a Secret Service agent. These are imagined to be among the many most extremely skilled armed professionals within the nation. The company can also be lower than two years faraway from the catastrophic safety failures surrounding the assassination try on Donald Trump in 2024. You’d hope there’d be a reckoning, an organizational shakeup, a renewed dedication to skilled requirements. As a substitute, we get an agent doing a sweep of a authorities SUV together with his obligation pistol.
The takeaways right here apply no matter whether or not you’re a federal agent or a non-public citizen carrying hid: carry a devoted handheld gentle. Daily, no exceptions. And don’t fiddle together with your gun.
