MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Just weeks into his tenure as Mooresville police chief, Channel 9 has learned of a previous investigation into the whereabouts of Chief Ron Campurciani’s service weapon when he led the West Springfield, Massachusetts Police Department.
Campurciani worked for that department from 1986 until he retired as chief in May 2018.
Shortly after, the acting chief who took over the job asked for an audit of all department firearms, a department representative told Channel 9. That led to an internal investigation into a missing semi-automatic pistol.
A weapon issue and maintenance log shows the weapon in question was issued to Campurciani in 2008.
But sometime during or after September 2012, according to the special report statement written by the investigator:
Then “Chief Campurciani requested that he be given another firearm, as he was missing his,” saying it had been in a “sock drawer and now he couldn’t find it.”
According to the report, the second firearm he was given was what the chief turned in when he retired, though there is no record of it being issued to him, just returned, on the date of his retirement.
During the investigation, Campurciani was asked about this in a November 2018 phone interview, and he “stated that the firearm which he turned in was the M&P 45 originally issued to him, and he never lost a firearm or had one stolen or needed a replacement.”
He cited a previous lack of record-keeping as the main issue in this matter.
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The West Springfield Police Department confirmed the investigation is still open and pending, but it has no further leads.
The missing handgun has been entered into the Criminal Justice Information Services database as stolen/missing.
Statement from Randy Hemann, Mooresville Town Manager:
“It is my understanding that the internal investigation was completed and while there was a weapon reported as missing, there was no wrongdoing substantiated. I was aware of this news story before we hired Chief Campurciani and I spoke with him concerning the matter. Campurciani believes this is a record-keeping issue. West Springfield did not substantiate any wrongdoing so there was no need for further investigation.”
Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.
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