The sound of gunshots was about to echo across Wrightsville Beach. It was 1969 and Officer C. Davis of the Wrightsville Beach Police Department had just stopped a suspicious man and placed him in the passenger seat of his squad car.
While Davis was verifying the man’s information, the man suddenly pulled a .357 Magnum revolver out of his jacket.
Davis grabbed the gun barrel, forcing its aim away from his body as the man fired all six rounds of the revolver’s chamber.
One of those bullets passed through a pack of cigarettes in Davis’ shirt pocket; another grazed his stomach, burning his skin.
The shooter, later identified as John Jay Bernosconi, bolted from the squad car. Davis leapt out of the car, yanked his gun from its holster and fired six times at Bernosconi as he disappeared down the street and evaded police.
Davis survived, emerging with only minor injuries, but the incident could have proven worse if the barrel of Bernosconi’s revolver was inches closer to the officer’s body.
Bernosconi was later apprehended.
The shooting in 1969 was not the last time officers in Wrightsville Beach have been forced to use their weapons. In 1993, an officer fired his weapon at a man who had just robbed the Scotchman, or what is now the Wrightsville Beach Mini-Mart on Salisbury Street, said Police Chief John Carey.
For Carey, such incidents shed light on the dangers officers face on a daily basis.
Feeling a need to update the department’s equipment, Police Chief John Carey has sought more advanced pistols for his officers.
At its Sept. 24 meeting, the board of aldermen authorized the purchase of 33 new Smith and Wesson M&P .45 handguns using state drug seizure funds, or confiscated drug money.
The Smith and Wesson pistols will replace the department’s now obsolete Glock Model 23s, providing each officer a weapon that is more user-friendly and adaptable to various hand-sizes, Carey said.
The new firearms are expected to arrive in about 4-6 weeks.
The police department is receiving $318 credit for its old Glocks, knocking the price of each new Smith and Wesson to $57.
With the purchase of 33 firearms at a total of $1,881, and holsters/magazine holders at $2,985, the total price of the transition comes out to $4,865.
The purchase places Wrightsville Beach on the bandwagon with the Wilmington Police Department and New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office which have already transitioned to the Smith and Wesson M&P, said officials in both departments.
By installing an interagency weapon, officers will be able to expand co-operability between agencies trading out ammunition and magazines.
"In my opinion it’s a lot better as far as the handling and the way the weapon operates upon fire," Deputy Charles Smith of the sheriff’s office said about the M&P. "It’s easier to handle and it shoots real smooth."
Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous, who described himself as a gun enthusiast, expressed tremendous satisfaction with the department’s new Smith and Wesson firearms, saying the pistol is comfortable and dependable.
"It’s a well-balanced gun," he said, "and the adjustable grip makes it fit just right in your hand."
The Wilmington Police Department and the sheriff’s office were able to trade their Heckler and Koch firearms for the Smith and Wesson M&Ps—including holsters—at no cost. Smith and Wesson has made significant headway with its M&P model, infiltrating several arms of state and local law enforcement, said Matt Rice, industry contact for the company. The Raleigh Police Department and the North Carolina Highway Patrol converted to the M&P earlier this year.
