Crime lab reassembled Patricia McCloskey's gun: 'readily capable of lethal use'

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Crime lab reassembled Patricia McCloskey's gun: 'readily capable of lethal use'
Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley stated in charging documents that the gun was "readily capable of lethal use"

Author: Christine Byers (KSDK)
Published: 3:32 PM CDT July 21, 2020
Updated: 5:22 AM CDT July 22, 2020

ST. LOUIS — The gun Patricia McCloskey waved at protesters was inoperable when it arrived at the St. Louis police crime lab, but crime lab experts reassembled it and wrote that it was “readily capable of lethal use” in charging documents filed Monday, 5 On Your Side has learned.

In Missouri, police and prosecutors must prove that a weapon is “readily” capable of lethal use when it is used in the type of crime with which the McCloskeys have been charged.

Crime lab staff members field stripped the handgun and found it had been assembled incorrectly. Specifically, the firing pin spring was put in front of the firing pin, which was backward, and made the gun incapable of firing, according to the documents.

Firearms experts then put the gun back together in the correct order and test-fired it, finding that it worked, according to the documents.

Credit: Provided photo
Excerpt of document obtained by 5 On Your Side showing Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley's orders to crime lab experts.

Crime lab workers photographed the disassembly and reassembly of the gun, according to the documents.

Patricia McCloskey and her husband, Mark McCloskey, have said the handgun Patricia McCloskey waved at protesters was inoperable because they had used it as a prop during a lawsuit they once filed against a gun manufacturer. In order to bring it into a courtroom, they made it inoperable.

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