Police sergeant and firearms instructor sues SIG Sauer for accidental rifle discharge

Heeeeeeeeeere we go again. Same old SIG again. Well, sort of.

On April 29, 2026, former North Myrtle Beach Police Department (NMBPD) Sgt. William Norton filed a federal lawsuit against SIG Sauer, Inc. after an incident in which he alleges his SIG M400 duty rifle accidentally discharged.

The incident in question occurred on May 25, 2025 as Norton and other law enforcement officers responded to a mass shooting in Little River, South Carolina.

According to the filing, Norton and other NMBPD officers arrived at Harbourgate Marina to deploy a boat. There, Norton reportedly chambered a round, placed the safety on (standard AR-style rifles like the M400 can only be placed on safe if the hammer is cocked in the rearward position), and used a sling to position the rifle in front of him with the muzzle pointed down.

The suit states that Norton specifically checked the safety selector of his M400 to ensure it was on as he approached the gate to the marina.

“Once at the gate, Sgt. Norton raised his right hand to unlock the gate and raised his left hand to push the gate open,” the filing says. “While both of Sgt. Norton’s hands were on the gate, his M400 rifle suddenly and unexpectedly discharged, twice.”

The first round struck the water a few feet in front of Norton, but the second entered his left upper leg, traveled through his leg, and ended up in his left foot. Two surgeries were required and the wounded officer is still undergoing extensive treatment for his injuries.

Following the incident, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) conducted an investigation and reviewed eyewitness video of the alleged Sig Sauer rifle discharge. While the investigation did not identify a root cause of the discharges, it did confirm that Norton’s hands were on the gate.

Norton is not a rookie cop. He started working as an NMBPD officer in 2004. Moreover, he became a firearms instructor in 2012 and served as a senior firearms instructor for the City of North Myrtle Beach. In the lawsuit, Norton alleges that his SIG M400 rifle “contained design and/or manufacturing defects that permitted the rifle to discharge unintentionally at the time of the incident.”

Norton is joined by his wife, Christi, as a plaintiff in the civil suit. His legal counsel, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky P.C., also represents multiple plaintiffs across the country in lawsuits against SIG Sauer, Inc. for unintended discharges of their P320 pistols.

In those cases, SIG has maintained that the P320 cannot fire without the trigger being pulled. The company did not provide a comment regarding Norton’s allegation of his M400 rifle’s accidental discharges. NMBPD did confirm that the rifle is still being issued in the department.

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