Weapons & Guns

A Florida man experienced the shock of his life when he was accidentally shot with his own gun by a police officer during a traffic stop ... and now he's telling TMZ how profoundly this agonizing experience has complicated his career.

Jason Arrington tells us he blacked out when Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Mindy Cardwell accidentally pulled the trigger as she tried to remove his gun from his waistband ... sending a bullet through his right hip area, exiting near his kneecap. He says his first thought was he would die right then and there.

BTW, he was legally carrying the gun -- a Glock .45 semiautomatic pistol -- which he had let Officer Shaun Lowry know about early on in the December stop, for allegedly running a red light. For everyone's safety, Lowry asked him to step out of the car ... which is when things quickly went south.

A$AP Rocky's felony assault trial got underway Friday morning ... days after the Grammy-nominated rapper rejected a plea deal -- and we're live streaming the whole thing. Rocky faces a potential 24-year prison sentence if he's found guilty.

Rocky's attorney Joe Tacopina and prosecutor Paul Bradley started the morning off addressing the judge in the downtown L.A. courtroom before the jury was seated.

The two sides were arguing over evidence related to bullet casings -- and, Judge Mark S. Arnold decided the defense is free to consult a firearms expert on the court's dime ... but, no evidence was excluded. The judge ruled nothing the two attorneys argued about is allowed to be mentioned in their opening statements, and the jury was then brought in.

A$AP Rocky rolled the dice and rejected a plea bargain in his felony assault case because the deal would have cost him his livelihood, sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Rocky's trial starts this morning with opening statements, and he now faces 24 years in prison for allegedly shooting A$AP Relli in November 2021.

The plea deal he was offered included 180 days in jail, a guilty plea to the most serious of the 2 felonies for which he was charged -- assault with a semiautomatic weapon -- a 7-year suspended sentence, 3 years probation and 500 hours of community service.

The Tennessee school shooter apparently drew his inspiration for his deadly rampage from the likes of Candace Owens and Adolf Hitler -- and he was even photographed doing a Nazi salute.

Solomon Henderson, 17, who fatally shot a 16-year-old student and injured two others at Antioch High School in Nashville -- posed for a picture mimicking the dead German Nazi leader, which is downright chilling considering Henderson's age and his vicious crimes.

Police say they are investigating an expansive online manifesto purportedly written by Henderson to determine his motive. The massive document includes statements such as “race mixing” and “take revenge," as well as Hitler references and notations about previous school shootings.

A terrifying moment was captured on video during Wednesday's deadly Tennessee school shooting — as gunfire erupted with people ducking for cover just before the assailant killed himself.

Check it out ... a witness filming the chaotic scene with a cell phone camera crouched behind the cashier's station inside the cafeteria at Antioch High School in Nashville.

Two loud gunshots can be heard as students and school personnel order everyone to "move." After the second shot, someone screams, "He shot himself!"

A$AP Rocky is headed for court on gun charges ... the Grammy-nominated rapper just turned down a plea deal from L.A. prosecutors, opting to face a jury trial instead.

L.A. County prosecutors offered him a deal -- if Rocky pled guilty to one of two felony charges, he'd serve 180 days in jail, and he'd get a seven-year suspended sentence, with three years on probation. But, AR told a judge today he's decided to decline to take the deal.  Rocky could be sentenced to up to 24 years in jail if found guilty in a trial.

We caught AR on the way into court this morning, but he didn't offer any comment.

A female cop is getting canned after accidentally shooting a man with his own gun during a traffic stop in Florida -- and it's all caught on graphic body cam.

Jason Arrington is fully cooperating in video just released from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, calmly telling an officer he has a gun on him, after he was pulled over for running a red light. He steps out of his SUV and 2 officers frisk him ... that's when Officer Mindy Cardwell removes the weapon from Arrington's waistband, and it suddenly fires.

Chaos unfolds immediately -- another officer tells Caldwell to drop the pistol as he helps the wounded Arrington to a nearby patch of grass, blood seeping through the man's pants.

If you ever wanted to know the dangers of being a cop ... look no further than this body camera footage from the Oklahoma City PD.

The wild compilation video was recorded by OCPD officers who responded to a domestic situation in December 2024, but police only recently released it.

It all started when Jerry Yang arrived at his ex's home with a firearm and started making threats before fatally shooting the woman's 15-year-old son and injuring her other child.

Noah Scurry -- a high school basketball star in Pennsylvania -- tragically died this week after he was shot just steps from his home.

The Philadelphia Police Department said the fatal shooting happened at around 7:15 AM on Tuesday ... revealing Scurry was on his way to Samuel Fels High School when he was gunned down.

He was just 17 years old.

New body cam footage is revealing New Orleans cops putting themselves in incredible danger to stop the Bourbon Street terrorist attack.

The newly released video starts after the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had mowed down NYE revelers and crashed his truck ... and you see officers swarming around the vehicle with their guns drawn.

With the driver's side door open, one officer was closing in, just inches from Jabbar, who the cops couldn't see due to the airbags deploying in his truck. But, without warning, the terrorist came out firing his gun from behind the airbag.

Matthew Livelsberger, the Army Special Forces soldier who blew up his Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Vegas, was battling PTSD -- and now we know his motive.

The Clark County Nevada Sheriff's Dept. just released a portion of a letter Livelsberger wrote, saying ... "This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?"

He goes on ... "Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I've lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."

Luigi Mangione, the charged killer in the Brian Thompson murder case, took time from a vacation in Thailand to visit a shooting range ... a decision that now sticks out to some of his travel buddies.

Two German tourists who traveled extensively with Luigi in Asia in the months before the shooting look back on their interactions with Mangione in our new TMZ Investigates documentary, "Luigi Mangione: The Mind of a Killer."

Luigi's travel companions, Paul and Max, tell us Mangione hung back from a beach day in Thailand to go to a shooting range instead ... later reporting back to them that it was expensive. But, that's not the only strange thing Luigi did around the German tourists.

Matthew Livelsberger, the guy who blew up his Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Vegas on New Year’s Day, racked up a bunch of medals during his time in the Army ... TMZ has learned.

The Army Special Forces soldier enlisted in January 2006, serving on active duty before switching to the National Guard in March 2011. He then moved to the Army Reserve, serving from July 2012 to December 2012 ... before returning to active duty as a Special Operations soldier, assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group based in Germany.

Livelsberger was a decorated soldier, earning 25 medals, 5 ribbons, 1 tab, and 3 badges in total -- including 5 highly prestigious Bronze Stars, one with a valor device for courage under fire.

Matthew Livelsberger fashioned himself a superhero after renting a Tesla Cybertruck just days before detonating the vehicle in front of the Trump Hotel in Vegas.

The Army Special Forces active-duty soldier told his ex-GF Alicia Arritt he felt like Batman in the Musk truck -- this was just 2 days before the truck exploded.

According to texts obtained by the Denver Gazette, Livelsberger wrote, "I rented a Tesla Cybertruck. It’s the s***," and followed up with more messages, photos, and videos of the truck.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl is underway in New Orleans ... but before Georgia and Notre Dame kicked off the College Football Playoff matchup, the Caesars Superdome held a moment of silence to remember those lost during the Bourbon Street terrorist attack.

As we previously reported, the contest was postponed a day in wake of the tragedy ... but local law enforcement stated on Thursday the city was confident in its measures to ensure everyone in attendance would be safe.

After the moment of silence in the stadium, it was followed by chants of "U-S-A" and an emotional rendition of the national anthem from NOLA native Samyra Miller.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the terrorist who killed 14 people in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year's Day, told his college newspaper a decade ago he was struggling to acclimate to life as a civilian after serving in the military.

The U.S. Army veteran studied at Georgia State University from 2015 to 2017, and in his first year on campus, he was interviewed for The Signal as part of a story about students jumping through hoops to use the G.I. Bill.

Jabbar told reporter Sean Keenan it was difficult to use the G.I. Bill for his tuition, and he was having a hard time getting used to being a college student. He told Keenan he didn't know how to talk to regular folks without using military slang.