New Hampshire gunmaker Sig Sauer hit with new lawsuit over unintentional discharges
A Sig Sauer handgun that allegedly goes off without the trigger being pulled is now at the center of a new multi-state lawsuit against the New Hampshire gun maker, a concern Maine's Total Coverage's partner 5 Investigates has been reporting on for two years.
The new suit includes the story of a woman from Orleans, Kyla Ellis, who is described in the lawsuit as someone who has hunted throughout her life. She says in the suit that her Sig Sauer P320 suddenly discharged while in its holster as she moved the gun from her right hand to her left hand.
She is one of 20 people across the country who say in the new suit that they were injured when the gun fired on its own without the trigger being pulled.
Ellis said she was in her car when she said the holstered gun went off without warning in June of 2021, striking her wrist and causing substantial injuries. The bullet narrowly missed her husband who was sitting next to her.
Robert Zimmerman, an attorney representing Ellis and the other plaintiffs, said in an interview, "This gun is going off, unintended in many instances and situations where the user's hands are nowhere near the gun or the trigger."
The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in New Hampshire, said there have been more than 100 incidents of the P320 pistol unintentionally discharging where the user believed they did not pull the trigger.
5 Investigates first told you about the concerns two years ago when we spoke with a sheriff's deputy from Virginia. She said her P320 fired on its own in 2018, the bullet going into her thigh, shattering her femur.
We've also told you about five P320s carried by police officers in Somerville and Cambridge firing unexpectedly, allegedly without anyone pulling the trigger.
The latest incident happened back in April. Somerville police Officer Ashley Catatao filed suit against Sig Sauer after suffering a non-life-threatening flesh wound.
In a statement, Sig Sauer tells 5 Investigates: "The P320 is designed to fire when the trigger is pulled. It includes internal safeties that prevent the firearm from discharging without a trigger pull."
Zimmerman said he is already hearing from additional people across the country who have experienced the same problem, and he expects additional lawsuits to be filed. He is calling on Sig Sauer to recall the P320.
"The fact that there are so many cases, what does that tell you?" 5 Investigates' Mike Beaudet asked Zimmerman.
"(It) tells me that there's a problem, that these individuals that we represent, they're not inexperienced users. These are people who have been around guns for most of their adult life," Zimmerman said.