As his wife cried out in pain, a Georgia police chief told a 911 dispatcher early Thursday that he accidentally shot the woman with his department-issued gun while she slept.
Peachtree City Police Chief William McCollom called 911 around 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day after reportedly shooting his wife Margaret, 58, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was taken to an Atlanta hospital in critical condition.
At the beginning of a recording of the emergency call released Friday, McCollom calmly tells the dispatcher there was a “gunshot wound, accidental. Need medical ASAP.” He initially says that the victim was shot in the back and side.
Asked how the victim was shot, McCollom says “The gun was in the bed, I went to move it. I put it to the side and then it went off.”
McCollom then tells the dispatcher that he and the victim were both asleep when the gun went off. He also repeats later in the call that he was asleep when the weapon discharged.
After answering the dispatcher’s initial questions, McCollom identifies himself as a police chief.
“You’re the chief of police in Peachtree City?” the dispatcher asks.
“Yeah, unfortunately, yes,” he responds.
Margaret McCollom was upgraded to fair condition Sunday, according to the Journal-Constitution.
The newspaper reported that McCollom was placed on administrative leave while the Georgia Bureau of Investigations looks into what happened. He has not been charged in the shooting.
Listen below:
This post has been updated.
