Training Day: How often do Texas police shoot each other while training?

Grits contributing writer Eva Ruth Moravec, who has launched the Point of Impact series investigating Texas police shootings of unarmed people, sent out an email today posing the question, "How often do Texas police shoot each other while training?" There were three in the first year data was collected under a new Texas law for FY 2016, including the first in her series of narratives regarding police shooting cases with unarmed victims. Here's the text of her email:

One of the 19 Point of Impact shootings took place at a gun range near Dallas, where Irving Police Department's SWAT team was training one day last year. But it was one of three training accidents involving Texas law enforcement last year.

While the other two incidents led to disciplinary action, the Irving incident - in which an unarmed training officer was injured - did not. In total, 169 people were shot by Texas law enforcement from September 2015 to September 2016, and 20 percent of those individuals were unarmed.

The story ran in the Austin American-Statesman Oct.3, and is also on the project's website. Also on PointofImpactTX.com's site: videos, a StoryMap so readers can follow along, and even more department policies than we started with.

I'm so grateful and excited for where this project has been and is headed. To check out the buzz Point of Impact has had so far, listen to our interview on the Texas Standard and read this Grits for Breakfast post. And, keep an eye on Grits for a forthcoming podcast about the project soon.