Fun with Guns: That’s His Story and He’s Sticking To It Edition
Let’s start the New Year off with a bang. (See what I did there?)
At 4:15 am on New Years Day, Peachtree Police Chief William E. McCollom called 911 to report that he accidentally shot his wife – twice. Seriously.
The GBI will handle the shooting investigation. GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang originally said Chief McCollom called 911 to say he accidentally shot his wife twice with his service weapon. After further investigation, Lang said it was determined that only one bullet had been discharged.
Well, I can understand that. Do you have any idea how hard it is to count at 4:15 am?
The victim was taken to the hospital where she is in seriously condition.
Now here’s my question: how do you accidentally shoot someone at 4:15 am? Was she trying to crawl out the window and you thought she was coming in?
Something tell me that this story is only going to get better.
Thanks to Carl and Brian for the heads up.
Maybe we need to start applying more stringent vetting policies to law enforcement too. Ya think?
1http://images.dailykos.com/images/101953/large/guns_should_be_restricted_NRA_president.jpg?1408915855
2Fred, can we get that NRA president back long enough for a sanity transfusion to the NRA heads now? And I use the term “heads” in the naval sense.
3Accident? Must be some version of NRA doublespeak referring to their version of the ‘facts.’
Premise one: “guns don’t kill”
Premise two: “people kill”
Conclusion: “responsible gun owner, ergo accident”
That’s the NRA, forever promoting the myth of responsible gun owners whatever the circumstances and outcome.
4This is Ala-damn-Georgia. Shooter is a good ole white boy and his victim is a white minority. No charges will be filed ever.
5First shot an accident, maybe. If second shot is an accident it is going to need some serious explaining. The time of day is a factor that begs a few questions itself.
Of course, the fact that a police chief cannot handle a gun safely might need a little investigation, too. I am sure the folks on Fox will help us understand, he is white after all.
6Hopefully they can get David Bowie to testify at the internal affairs hearing:
Now Mr. Bowie, Chief McCollom has stated for the record that your, ahem, record, was playing on the the night of the incident. We’d like some clarification on your song Suffragette City. Did you sing “Bam Bam Thank You Ma’am” indicating two shots, or “Wham Bam Thank you Ma’am” for a single shot fired?
By the way, we’re all big fans here in Peachtree.
7Just about everybody is white in Peachtree City. It is a planned community just south of Atlanta. Many/most of the citizens get around their little town in golf carts.
The most common crime there is driving a golf cart while under the influence. Usually it is a very boring place.
8Somebody was 1.) drinking or 2.) sleep walking. Think its impossible to shoot somebody when you are somnabulizing? Nah. However, usually at night sleep walkers are either raiding the frig (and wondering later on where all the food went) or using their charge card for something over the phone and then wondering when it shows up on their doorstep “what the bleep is that!”
9Maybe he meant to shoot her twice. Who is really going to investigate?
10The Chief made a lengthy (about 5 minutes) call to 911. A local news station played the recorded call and it appears to contain a discrepancy.
11I’m seriously starting to get the notion that cops just love to shoot people. And if a black guy doesn’t happen to be available a wife will do.
12Right, PKM. This is not an accident. Either it was intentional attempted homicide or it was criminal negligence. Mr. police chief doesn’t get to cry that he didn’t know the gun was loaded nor that the safety was off, nor that it was not stored in a safe place. His resemblence to Rod Steiger in “The still of the Night” doesn’t help his case.
13Now I just don’t get all this unfounded suspicion that the police chief might have shot his wide intentionally. After all, he said that he only shot twice. Isn’t that an accident in Georgia? Now if it were three or more shots, I might begin to have questions …
14It does get better – he was sleeping with a loaded gun and he shot in her the back
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/02/justice/georgia-police-chief-wife/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
15“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.”
Why in the hell he was sleeping with a LOADED GUN IN THEIR BED is a question that a number of loonies won’t even ask…..
Forehead, meet keyboard.
16Oscar Pistorius got five years for almost the same thing, but that was in a country where guns are tools, not icons of liberty.
17I guess he was keeping his gun in the bed because he didn’t have a purse for it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-police-chief-said-he-shot-wife-moving-gun-in-bed/
18Why don’t I believe his story any more than I believed Pistorius’?
19Speechless!
Next thing you’ll hear is it all was a negligent discharge. GBI’ll call it accidental, but really??
20@UmptyDump
21It’s the two and three shot suicides you should question.
There are two, and only two, occasions when a firearm will discharge. 1) Someone pulls the trigger intending to make it discharge. 2) Someone is not following safe handling rules.
There are no exceptions to this. And in either case, someone should be held responsible for the damage that takes place.
There was a case in North Carolina many years ago where a woman shot her husband with the gun they kept under a pillow in their bed, “for safety”.
“When will they ever learn?”
22Winkie replacement.
23Thank you Rhea for bringing up the big question: WHO sleeps with a loaded cocked gun in the bed. Was he stroking it before he fell asleep, “nice gunnie”, “I wuv you gunnie-wunnie”, “nobody understands me like you do” …
I fully understand about the putative number of shots fired, the other spent bullet will be found embedded (no pun intended) in the pillow he possibly used as a silencer. Takes practice to shoot while asleep.
24Keep this idiot away from the hospital where his wife is being treated. She needs to survive this…. to testify to what actually happened.
I’m guessing…… he fired twice…… managed to hit her once.
JMHO.
25Sooooo…..
Was this a case of a defect in a product? Did the firearm somehow FAIL in it’s abilities as a cuddly bed defense system?
Hmmmm.
(Gack, gack. Cough. NRA types round the country no doubt feel this way)
26The recording of the 911 call is all over the TV. He was sleeping with the gun at his side. Who does that? Anyone sane? If his own life was in danger from someone outside the home, there are way too many other ways he could have protected himself without endangering his wife. He is very cool, calm and collected on the phone call. Very professional. No hysteria at all. He simply asks his wife how she is feeling and all she can do is moan in pain. This is beyond the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Way past time to get the FBI on this.
27“Clean” divorce NRA style, except the wife is alive. Holy NRA heresy, the man had two shots at point blank range and failed.
Hello Peachtree,GA, seriously do you want this armed idiot patrolling your streets?
28I figure it just might make sense to sleep with a loaded gun IN BED WITH YOU if you expect an armed invasion at any moment. But in that case, why are you both asleep?
Nope… no sanity on display here at all in any form.
And this is not only a cop, but a police chief.
Universe, could I please have another reality? This one is seriously borked.
29Followup: the lady is question is his EX-wife. Divorced her in 1999. His second wife recently divorced him for infidelity. This is starting to sound less and less like an accident.
30I contributed this over at The Daily Hurricane earlier today, I wish I could take credit for the idea.
http://dailyhurricane.com/2015/01/is-it-time-to-repeal-the-second-amendment.html
31@Maggie:
4:15 AM on New Year’s day? Yeah, I think that it’s a safe bet that alcohol was involved. That and an LOT of stupidity. I mean, who the hell gets into bed with his EX-wife and a gun. Particularly since she divorced him for screwing around on her. Sounds like a scenario where she might shoot HIM! ;-}
32Way late to the party, but I slept with a pistol under my pillow for a bit. I had a stalker courtesy of a former roommate. It was no fun. He knew where I lived and made threatening phone calls at all hours to my work and home. I kept the safety on and the gun in its case with the zipper already unzipped. There was no way to set it off accidentally or for it to even fall off the bed.
As I’ve said before, my daddy taught me gun safety early. Usually the gun is nearby, not in the bed, but for those few months when I was living alone, it gave me a feeling of security. I finally shook the stalker when I moved.
Now keeping a cocked gun in your bed is just plain stupid. Most of them you don’t need to cock to fire, so why bother?
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