Training Session Violated Procedures : Policy: Using a loaded weapon in a public place goes against all the rules, law enforcement officials say. Many police are puzzled by the incident.

The type of impromptu training session that resulted in the shooting death of Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins on Christmas Day should not have been conducted in public with the use of a loaded firearm, local law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

“We never mimic a procedure in public with a loaded weapon as training,” said Hugh Tate, training manager for the Costa Mesa Police Department. “Someone would be in a little bit of trouble if it did” happen in his department.

Sheriff’s Department officials said that Robins was hit by a single shot from another deputy’s gun while they were simulating a “car stop” at a lot behind the Edwards El Toro movie theater in Lake Forest.

Lt. Tom Garner, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, said the department has a written policy on the use of firearms but declined to say Tuesday whether using a loaded weapon during such simulations is against the policy.

But officials with other police departments said such an incident, in which a loaded weapon is being used during a simulation, would be a violation of their policies.

“We encourage our officers to train whenever they have the time on duty,” said Anaheim Police Sgt. John Quinzio. “It is commonplace for field training officers to demonstrate tactics such as high-risk car stops during the course of a normal shift. This type of training is absolutely essential. However, we have a strict policy about using loaded firearms during training sessions. There are strict prohibitions.”

Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Helton, a former training officer, said officers in his department typically conduct such training exercises in abandoned buildings with unloaded weapons.

“All of the training with loaded weapons is done in a very controlled environment,” Helton said. “We have the weapons inspected and reinspected and you would still not aim at people or put a finger on the trigger.”

If not conducted at a training academy or on city property, the training sessions take place at odd hours, away from the public, and in isolated places, officials from several cities said.

Saturday’s shooting was on the minds of officers throughout the county Tuesday, many of whom said they were puzzled by the incident.

“I think everyone has been talking about it, maybe trying to figure out in their own minds what went wrong,” said Buena Park Police Sgt. Bob Chaney. “Why did the situation end up the way it did? Obviously, there was a drastic mistake made.

“Everybody is pretty sad about it,” Chaney said.

Huntington Beach Police Capt. Bill Mamelli said the shooting appears to be “a truly isolated incident.”

“It sounds like they had some well-intentioned people trying to do the right thing and had some human error,” Mamelli said.