If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it, did it still fall?
In the case of CRLS, it wasn’t a tree, but a Youth Resource Officer (YRO), and he didn’t fall — his gun discharged. The answer, in this scenario, is yes.
On April 2nd at 1:45 pm, Officer Frank Greenidge went to the staff bathroom on the first floor of the CRLS Rindge Building. Once inside, he removed his gun from his holster, and hung it by its trigger guard, a loop of metal that surrounds the actual trigger. When he removed the gun from the hook, it accidentally fired. While the shot by all accounts didn’t cause any disruption, as the area isn’t near any classrooms, Greenidge self-reported the incident and has been placed on administrative leave.
“People who carry guns should not be having accidents with them. These officers are supposed to be trained professionals; how can they protect us if they can’t control their own gun?” Max Lierson ’26 told the Register Forum. “It is extremely unsafe to have officers carrying weapons if they cannot use them properly.”
Out of nearly 80 students surveyed by the Register Forum, almost a third stated that they were angry and scared in the aftermath of the incident. The largest percentile of students, 40%, answered the question “How does this incident make you feel?” by stating that they were confused.
“How was the safety not on?” Jackson Beckfield ’25 asked, a question echoed by many.
While the answer is unclear, it is known that the Sig Sauer P320 9mm pistol used by department officers has been known to fire on its own — the department is currently being sued by Officer Thomas J. Ahern because of its continued use. Ahern claims that in May 2019, his service handgun discharged without him pulling the trigger, injuring him.
According to a 2023 Washington Post article, more than 100 people have similarly reported that their P320 pistols have gone off without them pulling the trigger. At least 80 of these allege that, like Ahern, they’ve been directly shot by their pistol, with many losing work or suffering from life-changing injuries.
“Cambridge Public Schools does not dictate the type of equipment that the Cambridge Police Department uses for whatever situation it might be,” Principal Damon Smith told the Register Forum. “We’re in collaboration with [Youth Resource Officers] and we can talk about ways we can support them, but I don’t direct their activities.”
The two YROs assigned to CRLS spend the school day patrolling the perimeters of the building, or guarding any big events such as basketball games and the like. They serve to shield the school from outside disturbances — unless there is a significant threat to school safety, they do not interfere in cases of student disturbances. All carry guns to protect students and themselves from these dangers. Principal Smith cannot recall an incident in his 20 years at CRLS in which they had to use these firearms.
At the end of the day, “I find [YROs] to be supportive, helpful for me personally and also for students,” Principal Smith told the Register Forum. “Their focus is not on policing. Their focus has been on relationship building.”
This article also appears in our print April 2024 edition.
