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.
Not guilty because it was dark and he thought she was a black man…who looked like a large angry demon.
That means the gun was loaded and safety off. He should be immediately terminated from employment or get a desk job with no weapon. And he should never be allowed to own a gun.
Well, give the guy a break. After all, he lives in Peachtree City, GA, where there are huge numbers of home invasions and burglaries. No one can sleep soundly unless he’s got a gun under his pillow.
Check out Peachtree City, folks, population about 35,000, noted for its multiple golf courses and system of golf cart paths that wind through the whole place. It routinely shows up in national lists of the best places to live, and was recently cited as the best place in GA to raise kids. In short, this shooting pretty much constitutes an unprecedented crime wave.
Exactly…I was just going to comment the same thing. One of the safest suburbs in Georgie - what the hell was he expecting? The guy is a maroon and should be suspended.
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Wow, that’s the most composed 911 caller after a shooing I’ve ever heard, especially for a guy who ‘‘accidently’’ shot his wife.