Disgusting. Shocking.
Those are two words Faribault County Sheriff Mike Gormley used to describe the pointing of a loaded weapon by a deputy who was fired.
Revelations of Shane Dulac pointing his pistol at a deputy while in the Sheriff’s Office surfaced on May 2015 after being placed on paid leave pending an investigation into another unrelated incident.
Gormley filed an internal affairs complaint and two outside investigators found that Dulac had pointed a gun at four deputies on six separate occasions.
“It’s the worst case in bullying you can have,” says Gormley. “It’s that whole culture of being afraid to say something.”
When asked whether the deputies should be disciplined for not reporting the gun-pointing, Gormley says, “How do you punish a victim?”
While the deputies did not disobey any department policies, but Dulac violated four:
- conduct unbecoming of an officer by pointing a loaded gun at someone without cause or reason;
- created a dangerous and hostile work environment by making other deputies feel uneasy and fearful to be around him;
- misuse of equipment by not following safety standards and training taught annually;
- and by inflicting unwanted harassment and hazing type behavior.
One incident occurred in 2007, while there were two in 2009 and one in 2012, 2014 and 2015. And according to results of the investigations, three of the deputies were newly hired at the time.
Deputies within the department, says Gormley, have been told to always take any concerns they may have to their supervisors.
“I guarantee you it’s never going to happen again,” he says. “I’m 100 percent certain of that.”