Seaside teacher who accidentally fired gun in class given infraction

UPDATED 6/4/2018 10:00 p.m.

The Seaside teacher who accidentally shot his gun in a classroom won’t face any criminal charges.

Dennis Alexander is being given an infraction – which basically means a fine – for leaving his gun attended in a car.

The DA says there was no crime to charge him with and that they weren’t investigating his judgment, just what happened as a result.

Alexander is a teacher who also serves on the Seaside City Council as mayor pro-tem.

Back in March he accidentally fired his gun in a Seaside High School class while teaching a course on safety.

“He decided to show the students how to unload the firearm,” said Berkley Brannon, Chief Assistant District Attorney, “He did it improperly, he reversed the order and as he’s talking, he then goes to make sure that the gun isn’t loaded and he was mistaken and it was loaded and it fired, and thank God no one was hurt, seriously.”

According to Brannon, that’s the main reason Alexander isn’t facing criminal charges.

“Under current law, in this situation, he would have to kill somebody for him to be criminally prosecuted,” Brannon said.

The DA’s office also looked at whether the gun should’ve been on campus in the first place and, while it’s a gun free zone according to state law, police – on or off duty – are exempt.

Alexander is a reserve officer for Sand City.

“We also needed to determine whether he was validly a peace officer,” Brannon said, “Had he done his proper training, was he certified, what was the paperwork, what does Sacramento show, all that took some time,” Brannon said.

But their findings aren’t sitting well with everyone.

“He is [negligent] and he should be accountable for this special behavior in front of the law,” said Seaside resident Sheriff.

“Technically I feel like he is only human and mistakes happen, but then on the other hand, I’m not sure he should have had a loaded gun at school with students,” said Shannon Collins, also a Seaside Resident.

“I know Dennis Alexander has a lot of supporters out there that are probably happy,” Brannon said, “He also has a lot of people that would like to see him prosecuted and for those people, there is a saying, ‘There ought to be a law’ but there isn’t one here.”

Alexander will face the infraction fine. Though he won’t see any criminal charges, the DA’s office says he and the school could still be sued.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Monterey County District Attorney announced Monday that the Seaside teacher who accidentally shot a gun in class will be charged with an infraction offense.

This is for leaving the handgun in an unattended car.

The DA says that teacher Dennis Alexander did not commit a criminal offense for firing the gun in class.

The focus of the investigation was on whether or not a crime happened, not on the dangerousness, irresponsibility or poor judgment according to the DA.

Although the Gun-Free School Zone law makes it illegal to bring a gun to school, police are exempt on or off duty.

The incident happened in March when Alexander, a reserve Sand City police officer, was in a Public Safety Fundamentals class at Seaside high.

While he was explaining a demonstration he was about to do, he tried to unload the handgun.

Alexander made a mistake with the procedure he was doing while talking, so when he pointed the gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger, the gun fired.