https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pu ... edirect=on
Shortly before 5 a.m. on Jan. 1, after finishing a tour of guard duty, Johnson unloaded his Beretta alone rather than wait for a supervisor to watch him, McKenna said.
He said investigators later concluded that Johnson fatally reversed the unloading steps: First he pulled back the pistol’s slide, ejecting the bullet from the chamber – but apparently he did not remember that when the slide sprung forward, it pushed a fresh round into the chamber. Then he removed the clip, and thought the weapon was empty, McKenna said.
- He didn't wait for a supervisor to watch him unload. Wait, what? Marines aren't capable of unloading a pistol without being observed by a supervisor? (Well, apparently not.)
- He didn't know how to unload a pistol.
- He was not aware of Rules One (All guns are always loaded) and Two (Don't point a gun at anything you are not prepared to destroy).
- He thought it would be "funny" to point a gun at his friend and pull the trigger.
- The Marines seem not to know the difference between a cartridge and a bullet, or a magazine and a clip.