A federal jury on Friday ruled in favor of the gun manufacturer Sig Sauer in a lawsuit by a Somerset County sheriff’s deputy who alleged the company’s P320 handgun was defective after it fired while holstered, shooting him in the leg.
The verdict, delivered by a jury in U.S. District Court in Bangor after nine days of testimony, found that the New Hampshire-based gunmaker did not fail to provide adequate warnings about the risks of using the pistol, it was not negligent, and the pistol did not have a defect when it was sold, according to Centralmaine.com.
Deputy David Cole was walking to his pickup truck during work when the P320 handgun fired in the holster on May 4, 2022. He filed his lawsuit against Sig Sauer in 2023 alleging the company was negligent and reckless in its actions.
Last month, the jury heard opposing lawyers describe how the P320 fired without Cole touching the trigger. The bullet tunneled through Cole’s right thigh and calf before lodging in his ankle.
Cole, who still works for the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, has lasting injuries, both physical and emotional, his attorney, Robert Zimmerman, said at the time.
The lawsuit centered on whether the design of the gun was faulty and caused the shooting or if the trigger was not adequately protected, which allowed a jacket zipper to pull the trigger.
Sig Sauer attorney Martha Gaythwaite argued at the time that the gun does not fire without the trigger being pulled. Gaythwaite said a zipper from Cole’s jacket lodged between the trigger and holster and fired the gun as he moved his jacket, and the holster, which was not made by Sig Sauer, didn’t adequately protect the trigger.
Body camera footage showed Cole starting to take his jacket off as he walked outside in the moment before the shooting.
Cole’s lawsuit was one of many over the P320. Inside Edition featured several cases in a 2025 segment that included video of the aftermath of Cole’s shooting. Zimmerman told the show his office represents more than 100 people who were injured by a P320 firing “without their finger touching the trigger.”
Cole’s father was Somerset County sheriff’s Deputy Eugene Cole, who was fatally shot by John D. Williams on April 25, 2018, in Norridgewock while trying to arrest Williams on a drug charge. Williams was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
BDN writer Marie Weidmayer contributed reporting.
