GUILTY GA - Police Chief William McCollom for attempted murder, Peachtree City, 2015

[gliving]

The plot thickens:

He had another wife since he was actually married (divorced 2014) to the one he accidentally shot. Wife No.2: Suzanne Carter is a rabbi who was the police department chaplain in Delray Beach, Florida when McCollon was chief. The chief & the woman who was shot were divorced in 1999.... according to Daily Mail, which is a scandalous rag (my opinion) but sometimes gets it right.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ars-ago-married-South-Florida-RABBI-year.html

More from your link:

"William and Maggie McCollom were married in the late 1980s and divorced in 1999, documents show. For 22 years he worked for the Delray Beach police department in Florida, rising to the rank of assistant chief. While there, he met Suzanne Carter, a rabbi, who was the department's chaplain."

snipped

"After the McColloms' marriage broke down, William McCollom wed Rabbi Carter. But that marriage also failed. (when he engaged in an extra-marital relationship) McCollom and Carter were only divorced last year, two years after he and Maggie had moved into the three-bedroom home where Thursday's shooting took place."

 

[Mrs G Norris]

So he leaves her for another woman, then that marriage falls apart because he cheats in that relationship too, then she takes him back and he shoots her in her sleep .. can you IMAGINE what her family is thinking??

 

[Steely Dan]

We'll see hey? I bet his wife backs his claims when she talks regardless of the truth. She's a lucky lady to be alive IMO. Oh he shot her accidentally TWICE?? http://www.news.com.au/world/north-...cidentally-twice/story-fnh81jut-1227172498618

I'm not willing to draw a conclusion yet. I think it's possible that alcohol and stupidity could be the culprit. As a police officer he should know the gun safety rules.

In his defense:

He called 911 before she died.
He didn't do anything stupid like trying to give her CPR on the bed.
At this time there is no indication of violent relationships in his life.


Making him look guilty:

He shot twice, hitting her once. One shot is an accident, two is suspicious. JMO
Why wasn't the gun unloaded like anyone with rudimentary gun safety training would do?
We have yet to hear his description of what happened, but how did it happen twice? Wouldn't he have to have had his finger on the trigger? Why would you put your finger on the trigger while moving it without the safety on?

As for his being calm on the phone call it doesn't bother me. He's a professional and probably knows that being calm is the best way to get help out fast. If he was doing things to stall the dispatch of an ambulance it would seem very hinky to me.

I'm not ready to make a decision yet.

 

[MsFacetious]

He was asleep people... he was asleep when he shot his wife.
Now if that isn't the most reasonable explanation I ever heard. :dunno:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/02/justice/georgia-police-chief-wife/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

The police chief in an upscale community outside Atlanta said he was sleeping when he moved a gun in the bed and accidentally shot his wife in the back, according to a 911 tape released Friday.

"Who shot her?" the 911 operator asked William McCollom, the police chief in Peachtree City, Georgia.

"Me," McCollom replied.

"How did you shoot her?"

"The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, put it to the side, and it went off," McCollom said.

"Is she awake?"

"No, everybody was sleeping," McCollom said.

"No, is she awake now?"

"Yes," he said.

Later in the call, the operator asked McCollom, "Were you asleep also when this happened?"

"Yes," he said.

 

[Bravo]

Read thru this thread rather quickly. So the wife is still alive right? I hope she recovers for her own sake of course but I cant wait to hear her side :thinking:

 

[jjenny]

Read thru this thread rather quickly. So the wife is still alive right? I hope she recovers for her own sake of course but I cant wait to hear her side :thinking:

He claims he shot her in the back while both of them were sleeping. While I have no clue how he could have shot her while he was sleeping, it's possible she was sleeping.
If he shot her in the back while she was sleeping, then she wouldn't even know what happened, even if she survives.

 

[jjenny]

I'm not willing to draw a conclusion yet. I think it's possible that alcohol and stupidity could be the culprit. As a police officer he should know the gun safety rules.

In his defense:

He called 911 before she died.
He didn't do anything stupid like trying to give her CPR on the bed.
At this time there is no indication of violent relationships in his life.


Making him look guilty:

He shot twice, hitting her once. One shot is an accident, two is suspicious. JMO
Why wasn't the gun unloaded like anyone with rudimentary gun safety training would do?
We have yet to hear his description of what happened, but how did it happen twice? Wouldn't he have to have had his finger on the trigger? Why would you put your finger on the trigger while moving it without the safety on?

As for his being calm on the phone call it doesn't bother me. He's a professional and probably knows that being calm is the best way to get help out fast. If he was doing things to stall the dispatch of an ambulance it would seem very hinky to me.

I'm not ready to make a decision yet.

Well, don't forget he claimed in his 911 call he was sleeping when he shot her.

 

[foodle]

I am from Peachtree City and shocked to hear this. It is one of the safest communities in the US. The police patrol the golf cart paths regularly. Once in my subdivision they stopped a drunk golf cart driver and his wife had to come get him. They also hide in trees along the paths to keep everyone safe. Sure hope this goes well for the woman.

The community being heavily patrolled is good against random stranger crime like muggings, but doesn't do much for domestic violence situations or accidental shooting (whichever this turns out to be).

 

[foodle]

A few points about this:

1) She was shot with his service weapon, a Glock 17 semi-automatic ( http://www.ajc.com/news/news/peachtree-city-police-chiefs-wife-shot-and-critica/njdy2/ ). An accidental discharge is not out of the question, since Glocks don't have a traditional safety switch as on most semi-automatic pistols. Their "safety" is embedded in the trigger, so it stops the gun from going off if it's dropped, but not if a finger or other object accidentally gets lodged in the trigger guard and pulls the trigger.

2) He thought he shot her twice from the 911 call, but it sounds like he mistook the entrance and exit wounds as two different shots. GBI should be able to figure out how many shots were fired based on the shell casings in the room (assuming no one tampered with the evidence).

 

[liljim]

they have already said the gun was only fired once.

one thing is for sure, if this was joe average citizen there is no chance that it plays out this way.

you all heard the same 911 call i did so im not going to bother commenting on that... ridiculous.

 

[MNSuz]

Wow. Dh is a LEO. The minute he walks in the door his gun goes in a locked gun safe. This goes for his service revolver and personal carry. What a numbskull move on the part of the chief.

 

[jjenny]

A few points about this:

1) She was shot with his service weapon, a Glock 17 semi-automatic ( http://www.ajc.com/news/news/peachtree-city-police-chiefs-wife-shot-and-critica/njdy2/ ). An accidental discharge is not out of the question, since Glocks don't have a traditional safety switch as on most semi-automatic pistols. Their "safety" is embedded in the trigger, so it stops the gun from going off if it's dropped, but not if a finger or other object accidentally gets lodged in the trigger guard and pulls the trigger.

2) He thought he shot her twice from the 911 call, but it sounds like he mistook the entrance and exit wounds as two different shots. GBI should be able to figure out how many shots were fired based on the shell casings in the room (assuming no one tampered with the evidence).

Seriously? Why is he sleeping with a loaded gun in the bed? He is supposed to be a police chief.

 

[MsFacetious]

And how much crime can "Peachtree, Georgia" really have?
I'm guessing it's not like Detroit right?
Did he NEED to even have his gun accessible? :facepalm:

 

[SuzDuJour]

In order to fire, a round had to have been chambered, which would mean that the hammer was already pulled back. He took it to bed this way?? I agree that she probably doesn't have a clue what happened.

 

[SuzDuJour]

According to one of the news sources, this is his fourth marriage, twice to the woman he shot.

 

[wendybtn]

And how much crime can "Peachtree, Georgia" really have?
I'm guessing it's not like Detroit right?
Did he NEED to even have his gun accessible? :facepalm:

Metro Atlanta. Conversion of I-20, I-85,I-75. South of the city, some gated communities. Plenty of crime.

 

[SuzDuJour]

There is a huge difference between having your gun accessible and having it loaded, round in the chamber, hammer back in bed with you...and another person in the same bed.

If he meant to kill her, would he have shot her in the back and not the head? Would he have let her bleed out before calling 911. Baffles me!

 

[CHERIE.T]

Anyone think the 911 call sounded a little ...................odd?

 

[katydid23]

If nothing else, he is certainly STUPID to have a loaded Glock in his bed. :no:

 

[foodle]

In order to fire, a round had to have been chambered, which would mean that the hammer was already pulled back. He took it to bed this way?? I agree that she probably doesn't have a clue what happened.

His service Glock does not have a hammer. It's a striker fired pistol which uses a spring to propel the firing pin. Racking the slide partially compresses the spring (and chambers the round). Pulling the trigger fully compresses the spring then releases the firing pin. There is no other way to decock the firing pin, unlike in hammer fired pistols. Glocks are designed this way (no safety switch, essentially double action trigger) to allow for fast shooting, but accidental discharge is a big concern. I'm not trying to nitpick, but the specifics of the pistol design may have contributed to what happened here.

All that being said, I completely agree that he was either incredibly stupid/negligent or is lying about the circumstances.