MRI Disarms Police Officer


(Rochester-WABC, September 15,
2000) _ An off-duty cop lost his
side-arm this week after a magnetic
resonance imaging machine ripped it
from his hand, shooting off a round
at a clinic in Rochester.


The Sergent, who was visiting the
suburban clinic to undergo an MRI,
mentioned to the staff that he had his
handgun with him. Sgt. William Benwitz
was told it was all right to keep it during
the scan, but as soon as he entered the
room, the MRI's heavy duty magnet
yanked the .45 caliber gun out of his hand,
causing it to fire once. No one was hurt,
and the bullet lodged into a wall of the
clinic.


It took three hours to power down the
magnet and free the weapon. An MRI is
four times as powerful as magnets used to
lift cars in junkyards.


Sgt. William Benwitz, who runs a
firearms training unit, said it would be too
risky to try firing the weapon because its
molecular structure might have been
altered. ``Until we send this gun back to
the factory, we're not even going to
test-fire it,'' he said in Friday's Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle. ``The metal is
more brittle than it should be.''


(Copyright 2000 by The Associated
Press. All Rights Reserved. AP
Contributed to this report.)

"Considering the events of recent years,
the world has a long way to go to regain
its credibility and reputation with the US."
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