A .40-caliber Glock gun ordered for a Palm Beach sheriff's deputy winds up in the hands of criminals. The gun then moved from place to place, from criminal to criminal. And a crime reporter set out to find out how, and why.
Reporter Ed Komenda traced the history of the Glock and recounted its journey in "The story of a gun: Serial number MPX753" for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He explains his reporting on “Early Start” this morning.
Over four years, the gun traveled more than 5,000 miles and was involved in four shootings. Komenda says he daily looks for “interesting charges” in police reports when this story presented itself.
“It was much more dramatic than a typical gun story is,” he says. While the gun has passed from criminal to criminal, “nobody has really been convicted in any case tied to this gun.”
Concerning an issue of heated debate, Komenda’s story received a mixed response. While one person commented it was one of the best stories he's read, another said he didn’t like it. “Another guy says I have no business in the business,” he says. “They claim that it’s politically driven.” But Komenda just saw a story worth pursuing and that’s what he did. “I wasn't looking at either side.”
Read Komenda's story here: The story of a gun: Serial number MPX753