The 911 call after a police chief of a Georgia city shot his wife was released on Friday.
Peachtree City police Chief William McCollom called 911 after 4 a.m., saying he accidentally shot his wife, Margaret.
WSB-TV got a transcript of the call:
McCollum said. “Shot in the back. ” “Who shot her?” the dispatcher asked.
“Me,” McCollum responds. “The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, put it aside and it went off.”
“Having trouble breathing dear?” he asks.
McCollom told the GBI the shooting happened with his service revolver around 4 a.m. Thursday.
The initial report that came into the GBI said McCollum shot his wife twice, but it was later determined she was only shot once, agents said.
“I’m the chief of police. The gun is on the dresser.”
“You’re the chief of police in Peachtree City?” the disaptcher asks.
“Yeah, unfortunately,” McCollum responds.
According to The Associated Press, he also said, “Oh my God. How the hell did this happen?”
GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang told AP that McCollom has been cooperative with the investigators in the case.
His wife will be interviewed when her condition improves. Police haven’t charged him with a crime.
During the 911 call, McCollom told the dispatcher that his wife was having difficulty breathing and she appeared to be suffering from internal and external bleeding. His wife was flown via helicopter to the Atlanta Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition on Thursday, per AP.
As AP notes:
“He is fully cooperating at this point, and he has been interviewed,” said Lang, who refused to comment on what McCollom told investigators.
The victim had not spoken with police by early Thursday afternoon. It appeared there were no other witnesses to the shooting. Lang said GBI investigators believe McCollom and his wife were alone.
McCollom has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation and an internal review. He has not been charged with any crimes, said Scott Ballard, district attorney for the Griffin Judicial Circuit.
“There are a lot of things that we don’t know yet about what took place that we need to know before we can make any decisions,” Ballard said.
Police had never been summoned to the chief’s home for an emergency prior to the shooting, Brown said.
The shooting surprised neighbors in the quiet subdivision about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta, and it left some on the city’s police force shocked. McCollom has served as chief for about a year.
