The US Air Force has released the following statement regarding the death of Amn Lovan on 20 July, 2025 as involuntary manslaughter, committed by another Airman.
“Air Force authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the facts and circumstances of the fatal firearm discharge at F.E. Warren AFB on 20 July 2025 that involved an M18 pistol. Out of an abundance of caution and based on initial reporting, Air Force authorities ordered various safety precautions involving the M18 after this tragic event. Since then, the investigation has progressed and an individual has now been arrested on suspicion of making a false official statement, obstruction of justice, and involuntary manslaughter. As with all individuals accused of a crime, the person arrested in this case is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The investigation in this case is ongoing and further details are not available.”
We are waiting to hear from Air Force Global Strike Command whether they have lifted the restriction on use of the M18 pistol put in place in late July.
Update: AFGSC has stated that they have not completed inspections of their M18 fleet yet. We’re not particularly surprised considering it took the command 22 months to release a report on a HMMWV rollover in 23 which resulted in a fatality. They seem to lack a sense of urgency. We hope that doesn’t extend to use of their portions of the nuclear triad in the event they are ever called upon.
Interesting.
Kinda brilliant blaming the Sig (assuming the allegations are true) but I think the damage is done.
Allegations regarding the fatality being caused by another Airman? What sounds more plausible, two guys were messing around and one shot the other one, or, a gun sitting on a table decided to go off all by itself?
I think Adam was suggesting that it was rather clever for the alleged shooter to try and blame the firearm given the negative press the M17/18/P320 has received.
Do you think any of the people who made videos about how “evil” SIG was will make any form of retraction?
No…
The M18 is still a POS. They have the incorrect front sites and by default shoot low. SIG should be ashamed to have their brand on the firearm (and this is coming from a Sig fan). Should’ve just mimicked what SOF was using and went with a Glock variant.
You obviously dont understand how combat site on a pistol work. Every Sig has sites like this.
*iron sights, not “combat site”
He’s referring to combat, center, or target holds of pistol sights.
Not irons vs optics.
He’s referring to sights, not “sites.” There’s a big difference.
Nobody will retract from accusing SIG of all their issues. They will not ever accept they could be wrong. They have too much hate to digest. In fact, many are banning the P320 just because nobody could still prove what’s wrong about it. If you can’t prove it, just ban it.
There may be a real issue. However, it’s very odd nobody has been able to prove it yet after years and hundreds of presumed uncommanded discharges. That might be just a clue.
This is just one incident. Sig has done a bunch of “evil” things (i.e. unethical) and there are still many instances with video evidence of holster pops.
That said, yes I was trying to tell people to wait on this particular incident because the investigation hadn’t even started yet. People were flying off the handle and forming Karen mobs based on RUMINT. But this incident being manslaughter doesn’t make the P320 a safe design either.
I hope this irresponsible airmen in question gets a fair trial and if found guilty that lead to the death of a fellow airmen, is thrown in a cell at Ft Lost in the Woods…
However this doesn’t dispell all the accounts of the P320 going off in circumstances that would otherwise should not have gone off. Further more the reputation of SIG has now been tarnished in the eyes of many in the gun community.
The only thing that’s been tarnished is the IQ level of internet retards.
No matter how many times the baseless rumors are factually disproven by credible, repeatable testing that isn’t done in some guys basement or by literally actuating or manipulating the trigger in some manner you people still exist- like a bad toe fungus from trench foot or an itchy ass from days in the field without bathing.
I suppose if you want to believe in the Tooth Fairy, go ahead. But right here on these pages Eric has fairly, factually and accurately reported the details without a whiff of bias. If you can read, on which the odds are mixed, you may want to take a gander at those articles or perhaps have your mom read them to you. Either way, be prepared because it’s going to shatter all kinds of myths and may even make you skeptical about the monster who lives under your bed.
The fact is there are thousands of us who carry the M17/18 every day. Many in Condition One. Countless rounds have been fired through that weapon and they have been subjected to the usual rough and retarded handling. Those people largely realize that people like you and your cohort were more than likely just untied for the day and allowed to use the internet for a few minutes between a fire hose shower and delousing.
With palpable contempt,
The Bogeyman
Do you work for GBRS?
If there is absolutely nothing wrong, then why this reaction? Why are agencies quietly or opening dropping or suspending the use of these pistols? There are a myriad of reasons why and how this is happening and I am not ruling out anything until it has been completely and conclusively found.
It could be that these are all early batch production lot versions that are having problems.
It could be a surly and lazy Sig employee on the floor doing a halfass job and every pistol that went through his lane is now out in the wild.
It could be a QC of a single part due to bad sourcing.
It could be a user problem.
Sig Sauer has a reputation to uphold and their response has been less then what people have expected. If Glock or H&K had a pistol that us having the same or similar issues and if those two companies responded the same way Sig has; people would treat Glock and H&K with the same level of scrutiny and disappointment.
With respectful contempt… some guy
The problem with your assertion is that every one of the guns that is alleged to have gone off on its own has been extensively examined and in none of the cases has there been any anomalies found nor have they been able to make them discharge without pulling the trigger.
If there was something there it would be all over the internet and would have been used in the various court cases. Instead, we get theories, like yours, none of which are based on facts and none of which have been proven.
Here’s my general thesis. The open internet has largely become a tool for moving public opinion. People either knowingly or unwittingly participate in that process. People can also observe from the outside, let’s call them “pedestrians”. The knowing have an objective they wish to achieve. In trying to achieve that objective they enlist the unwitting who either through ignorance or bias help them. The knowing also use technological artillery. They soften up the internet battlefield by using bots and AI as force multipliers to give the impression support for a particular objective is larger than it really is.
Now take a step back for a moment and notice none of this is about material, factual knowledge. That’s because real knowledge is the nuclear option. It destroys the lie. It tramples bias. It exposes the artillery’s position. It informs the unwitting they’ve been made into dupes.
The use of these techniques is ultimately very insidious. For example in this particular case one of the objectives by the “knowing” would be to cause a loss of confidence in the firearm (either through brand warfare or psyop). That’s a little harder to achieve in the military because through constant use, first hand exposure- ultimately, knowledge, the users realize it’s a lie. But to people like the “pedestrians” who don’t really have the desire or time to figure this all out it can cause a lot of unfair damage to your brand reputation- and those people can be a large part of your consumer market.
Anyway, I’ve prattled on too long…
I carried an M17 strapped to MSV for 9 months in southeast Syria, while my BCT was spread across northeast Syria and Iraq. I never once heard of an incident with the M17 anywhere in the CENTCOM AOR and as a BN XO there’s an excellent chance that I would have…. just saying.
Why would an Airman at FE Warren AFB, Cheyenne, WY be transferred to Ft Leonard Wood, St Robert, MO?
To be assigned to the 386th Training Squadron as cadre or a student.
https://home.army.mil/wood/units-tenants/usaf/AF
Think he meant Leavenworth. No confinement facilities at good ole Lost in the woods! Also think that in today’s environment of liability, everyone has a knee jerk reaction to these things. Always blame the Gun first. Think that the Sig will be vindicated in the end, but the damage is already done.
On the same day Sig finally catches a break and something with the 320 goes their way, the USMS disallows the use of the pistol. Strange timing.
Sounds like 2 factors:
1″Jumping the gun”, ( Reached a conclusion TOO SOON),
2. Inadequate Fatality Investigation AND Management.
Perspective of a Death Investigator.
OSI is conducting the same investigation.
Our XO from my company in W. Germany in the 1980s discharged his .45 cal M1911 firearm after our monthly pay day activities at the Battalion HQs. The bullet traveled thru a wall and into our Battalion Sgt. Majors office with the bullet going through a wall locker and into his office wall. It was good our Sgt. Major was not in his office at that time. Our XO was screwing around with his M1911 when it discharged. Discharges just don’t happen unless you pull the trigger or make it discharge on its own due to something else being near the trigger to make that movement. It is not like a M-16/M-4 or AR-15 that has a slam fire due to the firing pin movement during a sudden crash of the weapon on something. The P320/M-17/M-18 have had less discharges than the first Glock pistols that were produced in the 1980s and 1990s so far.
I’m beginning to think Gaston Glock is behind it all. ;-p
The amount of people still supporting Sig is incredible.
Huge SIG fan, but not a striker fired fan. At all. 220, 226, 229, 245 and leather holsters, thank you very much. Yep, I’m an old guy …