A Houston police officer whose semi-automatic firearm spontaneously discharged while he was directing traffic ahead of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade is suing the weapon’s manufacturer. The incident is the latest at the center of mounting lawsuits against firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer.

Officer Richard Fernandez is seeking $10 million. Sig Sauer is actively defending itself in other lawsuits across the U.S. related to unintentional firearm discharges. Fernandez said he felt embarrassed as he laid in the driver’s seat of his squad car while tourniquets were applied to his leg.

“In my eyes it was less than honorable,” he said. “For however you want to look at that. I just felt like if I’m going to get shot, it’s gonna be out there protecting the citizens of Houston, chasing bad guns. Not from my holster.”

The lawsuit, filed in the 61st District Court of Harris County, outlines allegations made against the New Hampshire-based manufacturer for guns going off without the trigger being pulled. CTC Gunworks is also named in the lawsuit, a Houston gun store where Fernandez purchased the firearm. As of Thursday, no attorneys were listed for the defendants.

On Jan. 20, Fernandez was on patrol for a car event near the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard. He parked his patrol vehicle near a middle lane and exited his vehicle. He was walking toward his partner’s patrol car when he heard a muffled “pop” and noticed a hole in his pant leg, according to the lawsuit.

The firearm struck Fernandez in the leg, and blood gushed from his ankle. The lawsuit asserts that he never touched the handgun, and it remained in his holster before it unexpectedly discharged. Officers applied three tourniquets to his leg.

Fernandez received emergency surgery to remove the bullet. He spent three days in the hospital and requires ongoing medical care, according to the lawsuit.

“The incident that Rick had to suffer through was preventable,” Scott Siscoe, an attorney representing the officer said. “If he had been on notice that these guns have a propensity to accidentally discharge, spontaneously discharge on their own, in my opinion, he would have taken preventative action.”

The P320 pistol is a popular firearm used among law enforcement agencies. But many, including the Dallas Police Department, have suspended the use of the guns amid ongoing safety concerns.

In 2024, a Pennsylvania jury ordered Sig Sauer to pay $11 million to an Army veteran after he sustained a leg injury when his P320 firearm discharged inside of his holster.

Earlier that year, a jury in Georgia ordered the company to pay $2.35 million to a man who was wounded by his P320 even though he didn’t pull the trigger. A federal judge denied the company’s request for a retrial in the case.

The manufacturer, which first introduced the handgun in 2014, has succeeded in some challenges related to the P320’s alleged defects. Variants of the P320 have been designated as U.S. military pistols.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command temporarily halted the use of one of those variants, the M18 pistol. The pause comes after the death of a Security Forces airman and is currently pending an investigation, according to a statement made by the command.

Following allegations of P320 malfunctions, the Houston Police Department tested the firearms in 2017. The gun discharged four of the 30 times it was dropped during tests, a former captain told Houston Public Media.

On Thursday, the police department did not immediately answer questions about the firearms.

In a since-deleted 2017 press release from Sig Sauer, the manufacturer said it developed several enhancements in the P320’s function, reliability and overall safety after input from law enforcement and military customers.

In blistering statements responding to allegations of spontaneous discharges, Sig Sauer claimed “uninformed, agenda-driven parties” launched attacks and stirred misinformation.

“The P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without a trigger pull. This is verified through extensive testing by SIG SAUER, the U.S. Military, elite law enforcement agencies, and independent laboratories,” according to a statement posted to the manufacturer’s website.

A P320 operator manual posted online says the most effective safety is to carry the pistol with no rounds in the chamber.