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

[nells]

The no urgency thing is not that unusual for a first responder. My son is an EMT and he can stay very calm in scary situations. Later he gets weak or emotional, but during the crisis he stays very calm and measured.

That's true... I'm curious: would your son remember to apply pressure to a wound?

 

[buffetoflies]

I heard the 911 call for this the other day, and to me the guy just sounded really sheepish(?) and that he knows he done dratted up. Must be real embarrassing have instructed gun safety courses then have your own gun go off like that.

 

[gliving]

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/103-Autumn-Leaf-Peachtree-City-GA-30269/14602554_zpid/

103 Autumn Leaf, Peachtree GA

"Small But Very Nice Three Bedroom Home. Master On The Main With Two Bedrooms Upstairs. Freshly Painted, New Carpet, Vinyl, Mini-blinds & Stove. A Large Storage Shed 09/01/10"

So the master bedroom is on the first floor. Maybe he laid his service holster on the bed that day, wife goes to bed earlier than him, then when he goes to bed he moves the holster?

MOO, but he sure is average looking for having extramarital affairs. I guess it happens.

 

[katydid23]

That's true... I'm curious: would your son remember to apply pressure to a wound?

I think he would, but if it was his wife, and he shot her, he might be in shock. IDK

 

[hockeystar113]

The no urgency thing is not that unusual for a first responder. My son is an EMT and he can stay very calm in scary situations. Later he gets weak or emotional, but during the crisis he stays very calm and measured. He sounds like he does not care but it is only his training.

That's true... I'm curious: would your son remember to apply pressure to a wound?

I keep thinking about my own husband, who is an officer. The tone of voice didn't strike me as odd one bit, but I do agree with nells, my husband would be applying pressure to the wound from the get go. A few years ago, we had to call 911 for our newborn who was only a couple of days old. I was a mess, but my husband on the other hand was calm as a cucumber and knew exactly what to do in regards to first aid until the ambulance arrived. It really does come with the training and the job - you have to remove yourself from the situations to a certain degree in order to stay sane. That's what I hear in his voice, along with a hint of embarrassment, shame. Towards the end of the call, you can hear his emotions start to float to the surface. MOO.

We may never know the real story here, but my husband even commented on the fact that the gun had been in the bed with them.

* Edited for grammatical error

 

[Steely Dan]

He also says he was sleeping. Which is why the story isn't making much sense. She still might die, we don't know if she will make it.

Some people sleep with guns under their pillows. He may have been trying to move the gun. :dunno:

That's what I thought too. Imoo he sounded a little too calm.

As others have pointed out, calmness in emergencies is part of the job.

 

[jjenny]

Some people sleep with guns under their pillows. He may have been trying to move the gun. :dunno:



As others have pointed out, calmness in emergencies is part of the job.

I am very curious which gun safety manual says it's o'key to sleep with a loaded gun under the pillow? This guy was supposed to be experienced in gun safety measures.

 

[Steely Dan]

I am very curious which gun safety manual says it's o'key to sleep with a loaded gun under the pillow? This guy was supposed to be experienced in gun safety measures.

I never said there was a manual that suggests that. I merely said some people sleep with them under their pillows, which is true. As for him, he may just be cocky and think he knows enough to do it without problems. JMO

 

[IzzyBlanche]

He said he was asleep, and he also said he went to move his gun. These two things are mutually exclusive. He couldn't go to move his gun if he was asleep.

 

[Bravo]

Question. If u are actually stupid enough to have a loaded Glock under your pillow that doesn't have a safety at the very least maybe have it pointing toward the wall and not your partner!

 

[gitana1]

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.

I'm with you.

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.

Some 0of the inconsistencies could've been due to the gravity of the situation. He may have been giving context - they were both in bed, asleep. Perhaps he awakened and moved the gun or did so while half asleep, which is why he didn't know how many times she had been shot. We know he got that wrong.

I think it's super dangerous to have an easily accessible gun in the bed or near it. I have nightmares where I'm half awake and have lashed out at loved ones mistakenly thinking they were intruders. Which is why a gun near me while I sleep could be very deadly.

 

[Razz]

I read in one of the articles that he was going to the hospital to sit with his wife. Will they let him do that? Not sure that's a good thing until they know what happened.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I disagree.

He said he "went to move his gun." That signals intent. No sleeping person can intentionally go to do something.

One could say "I think I was trying to move [or reach for] the gun in my sleep," but that's not what he said.

There is a really interesting article out there somewhere on the innerwebs about fake (meaning calls made by the perpetrator) vs. real 911 calls, written by an FBI analyst. I'm too lazy to find it myself right now.

Anyway, one ginormous clue is whether the caller requests help for the victim. He doesn't. Practically the first word out of his mouth is accidental, which IMO shows his priority is shifting blame away from himself rather than getting help for his possibly dying wife.

 

[Steely Dan]

I read in one of the articles that he was going to the hospital to sit with his wife. Will they let him do that? Not sure that's a good thing until they know what happened.

Unless there is obvious foul play I don't think they can, or should, deny access to a spouse. JMO

 

[foodle]

I read in one of the articles that he was going to the hospital to sit with his wife. Will they let him do that? Not sure that's a good thing until they know what happened.

He's probably getting the maximum amount of benefit of the doubt about the whole incident. Also, if his wife is conscious, she might have asked for him (and/or corroborated his story). Finally, unless he's utterly insane, he wouldn't try to harm her in the hospital room, as it's a heavily trafficked area and her health is constantly monitored. While he could kill her if he wished, he'd almost certainly be caught.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Oh another thing.

This has been touched on already, I think.

But as a presumably trained first responder, he should not have needed prompting from the 911 operator to apply pressure to the wound.

 

[foodle]

Anyway, one ginormous clue is whether the caller requests help for the victim. He doesn't. Practically the first word out of his mouth is accidental, which IMO shows his priority is shifting blame away from himself rather than getting help for his possibly dying wife.

The first thing he says to the 911 operator is: Gunshot wound, accidental, need medical ASAP.

He describes the nature of the problem (GSW). That it was accidental, to show that there is no threat to first responders (i.e., don't send SWAT, no threat to entering EMS). And that they need EMS right away. This doesn't seem suspicious, but rather a person falling back on their training in a crisis.

I'm not ready to go one way or the other with this one, but I don't think you can say that he never requests assistance.

Now if you want to hear a suspicious 911 call, listen to the guy in Pittsburgh that murdered his doctor wife with cyanide. That one sounds fake from the very start.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

The first thing he says to the 911 operator is: Gunshot wound, accidental, need medical ASAP.

He describes the nature of the problem (GSW). That it was accidental, to show that there is no threat to first responders (i.e., don't send SWAT, no threat to entering EMS). And that they need EMS right away. This doesn't seem suspicious, but rather a person falling back on their training in a crisis.

I'm not ready to go one way or the other with this one, but I don't think you can say that he never requests assistance.

Now if you want to hear a suspicious 911 call, listen to the guy in Pittsburgh that murdered his doctor wife with cyanide. That one sounds fake from the very start. I know many people directly involved and everyone is glad he was convicted.

But he doesn't even say who was shot. The dispatcher has to ask him. The dispatcher initially thinks he is the one shot, then later has to ask whether the shooting victim is male or female.

He is surprisingly limited with information for someone presumably seeking help for his possibly mortally wounded wife.

IMO of course.

 

[foodle]

But he doesn't even say who was shot. The dispatcher has to ask him. The dispatcher initially thinks he is the one shot, then later has to ask whether the shooting victim is male or female.

He is surprisingly limited with information for someone presumably seeking help for his possibly mortally wounded wife.

IMO of course.

True, he doesn't say who was shot. But, as far as rolling EMS immediately, it doesn't matter. I see him giving the most relevant pieces of information necessary to get EMS to the scene immediately. With just his first phrase, the 911 dispatcher knows to roll EMS, that they can enter without danger, and the nature of the medical emergency. Whether he was shot or someone else is not relevant at that juncture to get the 911 dispatcher to send EMS immediately.

Look at it this way, to EMS, it doesn't matter if it's his wife or some random stranger he found on the street.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

True, he doesn't say who was shot. But, as far as rolling EMS immediately, it doesn't matter. I see him giving the most relevant pieces of information necessary to get EMS to the scene immediately. With just his first phrase, the 911 dispatcher knows to roll EMS, that they can enter without danger, and the nature of the medical emergency. Whether he was shot or someone else is not relevant at that juncture to get the 911 dispatcher to send EMS immediately.

Look at it this way, to EMS, it doesn't matter if it's his wife or some random stranger he found on the street.

BBM for focus.

Agreed. But it should matter to him, and it sure doesn't sound to me like it does.