CNN
A Georgia police chief who said he accidentally shot and seriously injured his wife while the couple were sleeping in bed has resigned, the Peachtree City Police Department said Wednesday.
William
McCollom stepped down as chief of police in Peachtree City nearly a
week after a prosecutor announced that although the New Year's Day
shooting appeared accidental, McCollom could eventually face a
misdemeanor charge accusing him of recklessly taking a gun to bed after
drinking alcohol and taking sleeping medication.
The
shooting in Peachtree City, an upscale community of 35,000 people south
of Atlanta, left Margaret McCollom paralyzed below the waist.
"I
have had had two families in Peachtree City -- my police family and my
personal family. In light of the recent tragedy in my personal family, I
need to continue to focus my time and efforts there," William McCollom
said in a message posted Wednesday on the police department's Facebook page.
Medics
and police rushed to the McColloms' home early on January 1 after the
chief called 911 to say he accidentally shot his wife as both were
sleeping -- by inadvertently moving a gun that he had taken to bed with
him.
ReplyDeleteSo it will go to a grand jury for a decision on charges.
"Last week, Scott Ballard, district attorney for a several-county area that includes Peachtree City, said a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe found the following:
-- McCollom went to bed on New Year's Eve after consuming alcohol and sleep medication.
-- After barking dogs awoke him in the middle of the night, he got up, picked up his Glock 9mm gun from a dresser and checked the house. After finding nothing, he returned to bed, placing the gun under the sheets.
-- McCollom woke up to the sound of a gunshot that struck his wife's right side. A wound on his right hand corroborates his claim that his palm blocked the ejection of a spent shell.
-- Forensic analysis of the sheets shows that the gun was fired from under the sheets.
Investigators concluded there was no evidence to suggest McCollum intentionally shot his wife, and that he didn't appear to have any motive to harm her, Ballard said.
Still, Ballard said he would ask a grand jury on April 15 to indict McCollum on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct, "since the chief took a loaded gun to bed with him after ingesting alcohol and sleep medication."
Misdemeanor = slap on the wrist = disgraceful nonchalance.
DeleteOnce again, the important facts are that even those the NRA wants us to believe are the good guys with guns are neither safe nor secure, nor do they exercise reliably good judgement.
ReplyDelete