Texas Police Officer Wounded in Training Shooting Undergoes Surgery
By Domingo Ramirez Jr.
Source Fort Worth Star-Telegram
A Sansom Park officer remained in the hospital Monday after being shot in the face over the weekend during a police training session at a Forest Hill elementary school.
A GoFundMe account for Officer Lina Mino has been created to help with medical expenses and for travel expenses for her family.
“Ofc. Mino underwent surgery and will require additional surgeries in the near future, as a result of the head trauma,” Erika Smith of Keller wrote on the GoFundMe website.
As of Monday, more than $3,900 had been raised. The goal was $5,000.
The Texas Rangers and Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the Saturday afternoon shooting at David K. Sellars Elementary School in Forest Hill. Authorities have called the shooting an accident but said they are investigating how a live round was fired during the training.
Forest Hill police hosted the training session.
On their Facebook page, Forest Hill police alerted residents that they would be conducting a practical training exercise at the school on Saturday and Nov. 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Active law enforcement would be in the area, but Forest Hill police said not to be alarmed because it was only training.
Just after 2 p.m. Saturday, Mino was shot and critically wounded in the elementary school. Participating officers rendered aide until a MedStar crew arrived, according to Forest Hill police.
She was then taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Forest Hill Police Chief Eddie Burns Sr. said in a Saturday news release that the session was school-based active shooting training but it was not supposed to involve live fire and weapons were prohibited.
The training was conducted by a third-party training contractor, which provided the supplies, but authorities have not identified the contractor.
WFAA-TV reported that a flyer for the event noted that the training would be hosted by the Forest Hill Police Department, instructed by Paul Gaumond, who is a reserve chief deputy constable for Johnson County Constable Precinct 2.
The training was open to peace officers, school resource officers and campus security officers.
Burns noted that Forest Hill, Sansom Park and other agencies were at the training session on Saturday. ·
“My prayers and thoughts go out to the Sansom Park officer that was injured and family & friends,” Forest Hill Mayor Stephanie Boardingham posted on Facebook. “Please pray for our Forest Hill officers, all officers participating in the training and all investigators.”
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