Defective P320 handgun killed NJ police officer and must be recalled, lawsuit says

🚨 New Jersey sues Sig Sauer, claiming its P320 handgun fires on its own.

🚨 An experienced Orange police detective was killed by the pistol in 2023.

🚨 Attorney General Matt Platkin demands a full recall of the P320.

A weapons manufacturer's poorly designed handgun that can fire without anyone pulling the trigger killed a New Jersey police officer, according to state prosecutors.

The state Attorney General's Office has filed a major lawsuit against New Hampshire-based gun maker Sig Sauer.

Attorney General Matt Platkin is demanding an immediate mandatory recall of the Sig Sauer P320 handgun.

"Officers, as well as civilians, in New Jersey and across the country have suffered immense harm as a result of Sig Sauer’s actions and brazen deceptions," Platkin said.

Lawsuit targets Sig Sauer P320 handguns

The semi-automatic pistol is available in a variety of calibers, although it initially fired the standard 9mm round when introduced in 2014. However, its civilian models have no external safety mechanism and rely on internal safeties.

Despite Sig Sauer's advertising of a "robust safety system" and "uncompromising reliability," the gun manufacturer has faced more than 100 lawsuits in the past eleven years.

New Jersey is the latest to pile on accusations against the company, with claims that the pistol is responsible for the death of an Orange police detective.

Officer’s death linked to unintentional P320 discharge

Police Detective Lieutenant Walter Imbert, 45, of Livingston, was killed on April 8, 2023. The U.S. Army veteran and range master had served on the Orange police force for 20 years.

According to Platkin, the officer was cleaning his P320 handgun when he was killed by an unintentional discharge.

Investigators said that Imbert's finger was not touching the trigger when the pistol fired.

Other officers across New Jersey have been injured

More than half a dozen civilians and law enforcement officers have been injured by P320 discharges, according to the OAG.

In 2022, Howell police officer Raymond Tillotson was at a firearm safety course when a bullet fired by his P320 ripped through his calf and foot. The pistol went off while he was holstering it.

A similar incident happened in 2023 to West Orange police officer Gregory Willis. He was shot in the thigh.

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And just last year, Detective Mark Cunard, with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, was shot in his thigh and knee while walking to his vehicle. Cunard's P320 was already hosltered when it went off.

Authorities said there were other incidents involving law enforcement with the Montville and Phillipsburg police, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Along with a mandatory recall, the OAG's lawsuit seeks to stop the sale of the handguns in New Jersey and to stop deceptive advertising.

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