I respect you but on this one, toa ujinga hapa. Some of us have been around SOPs such that we can smell bullshit from a distance.So who told you the safety catch was on and that there wasn't a chambered round? Or the age of the gun...in short there isn't enough data.
NB:- Forget what you see in movies, no Kenyan squad car carries firearms in the trunk. Bunduki huwekwa kwa waist for hand guns and on the floor for rifles.