Venice officers suspended for accidental shooting of 5-year-old
BY KIM HACKETT



VENICE -- A police officer who accidentally shot and wounded his 5-year-old stepson at the department's firing range in November has been suspended after an internal investigation.

The range supervisor was also suspended.

Officer Billy Masters received a one-month suspension, while range supervisor Sgt. Joseph Whitehead was suspended for two weeks. Neither man will be paid during his suspension.

"We had a serious mistake," Police Chief Julie Williams said after releasing the department's report Wednesday. "We move on and do better."

Masters was finishing his night of gun training Nov. 21 at the Wellfield Park shooting range on Pinebrook Avenue when his wife, Stephanie Webber, a police dispatcher, and her son, Jaryd Webber, came to visit him before he left for night patrol.

Webber and the boy were waiting in a classroom next to the range when Masters and another officer came into the room. Whitehead was also in the classroom.

Masters started dismantling his gun for cleaning when it discharged. The bullet ricocheted off a table and hit Jaryd in the left hip. The child suffered "a potentially fatal gunshot wound," according to the report.

Jaryd was taken by helicopter to a St. Petersburg hospital for treatment, then released the next day.

"Apparently I had reloaded when I was out on the range and had totally forgotten about it," Masters told investigators.

The investigative report concluded that "had he followed the most basic cautions" the accident would not have happened.

Officers are supposed to unload unused ammunition in a barrel near the outdoor shooting range, then clean and reload their guns outside.

The investigation cited Whitehead for not making sure the officers cleaned and reloaded their guns before leaving the range.

"There was no clear direction from Sgt. Whitehead to the officers to clean their firearms," according to the report. "He failed to ensure that the officers' weapons were empty and safe. This was clearly his responsibility."

Neighboring agencies, unlike the Venice Police Department, have written policies dictating where guns must be unloaded and cleaned.

Venice officers routinely cleaned their guns in the classroom, which was used by community groups when it was available.

"I wasn't aware anyone was cleaning (his gun) in the classroom," Williams said.

"I've always cleaned mine outside."

The report said dim outdoor lighting was the primary reason officers cleaned their guns inside.

The lighting has since been upgraded and officers are no longer allowed to clean their guns in the classroom.

There has been a "re-emphasis of strict adherence to rules," Williams said.

Masters, who has been an officer for 13 years, will be allowed to remain on the K-9 squad after his suspension.

In 2002, he was suspended and removed from the K-9 squad for brandishing a handgun at a fellow officer after a disagreement.

It took Masters five years to work his way back to the K-9 squad. He had been back with the unit only a few weeks before the accidental shooting.

A Sarasota County Sheriff's Office investigation of the episode quickly concluded that no crime was committed. Venice police began their internal investigation last month.