05/04/2025
**Found this in another group, and wanted to share. Please do NOT keep shotguns chambered (Loaded) because they are NOT drop safe!
Get armed, get trained. Always be prepared. ™️ 516-749-8650 Www.shetrainsyou.com
We Remember and Honor Reserve Deputy Constance "Connie" E. Worland, End of Watch (EOW) May 2, 1981, Gunfire (Accidental)
On May 2, 1981, around 4 p.m., Reserve Deputy Constance Worland and her male partner responded to an "assault with a deadly weapon call" at 6 Ironwood Lane inside the Scottsdale Estates in the city of Carson. As they arrived at the scene, a garage door opened, and Deputy Worland's partner removed the shotgun from its rack and prepared it to fire. However, when the man emerging from the garage proved to be the victim and not the suspect, he returned the shotgun to the rack but did not clear the weapon or return it to the safe position.
The two deputies then drove around the neighborhood, looking for the suspect. When they stopped to continue their search on foot, Deputy Worland's partner asked her if she wanted to take the shotgun. She declined and exited the patrol car. He then removed the shotgun from the rack and heard the loud report of a weapon firing. At first, he thought another deputy or a suspect had fired a shot, but then he saw a pained expression on Deputy Worland's face as she crumpled to the ground.
Deputy Worland, 39, was transported to nearby Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with massive internal bleeding from a shotgun wound in her back. She died in surgery.
During the investigation following Deputy Worland's death, the Department ran numerous tests of the Ithaca Model 37 shotgun that discharged and killed her. These tests showed that almost half the time the weapon was charged and off safe, a blow to the stock of the weapon caused it to fire. Investigators conducted similar tests on other Ithaca Model 37s and Re*****on and Wi******er shotguns; these produced identical results. Ultimately, the Department determined Deputy Worland's death to be a tragic accident.
Connie Worland became a reserve deputy on January 16, 1977, and graduated with Reserve Class 44. On March 13, 1978, the LASD hired her as a Communications Systems Officer (dispatcher) at the Sheriff's Communications Center in East Los Angeles. A plaque honoring her service and sacrifice remains in the main lobby there. She was the first female reserve killed in the line of duty in the United States.
Connie was a single mother, and her three teenage daughters- Elaine, 20, Linda, 17, and Denise, 16- survived her.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, LASD