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

[foodle]

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

He does sound somewhat detached on the phone, but he knows that being a wailing blubbering mess doesn't help the dispatcher figure out what should be done. First responders and others with similar jobs that deal with crises typically get the job done first and cry/scream/etc. about it later. It's what they're trained to do. As another poster with a LEO husband pointed out, they typically fall back on their training and their work-mode/demeanor during a crisis.

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.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Well, I guess we will see how this plays out.

My opinion, the man deliberately shot his wife, then called 911 to try to make it seem accidental.

I will be very interested to see what the official investigation reveals.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

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.

Not prudent having the loaded gun (without a safety) IN the bed with you!!!

Who does that?

Moo

 

[sonjay]

Not prudent having the loaded gun (without a safety) IN the bed with you!!!

Who does that?

Moo

Nobody with two functioning brain cells does that.

IMO, either this man is too stupid to be police chief, or he did it on purpose. I don't see any other plausible possibility.

 

[Razz]

I think the info he gave at first was a bit..... too restrained. I would first have identified myself as the chief of po of Peach City (knowing this would get their attention quick.and hopefully EMS there sooner.) It was a little like pulling teeth to get the necessary info out of him.

 

[jjenny]

Just today there was a show on "forensic files" about a woman who claimed she accidentally shot her husband when she tried to move a gun from under a pillow.
Turns out she killed him on purpose. They figured it out by forensic evidence.

 

[Montjoy]

Not prudent having the loaded gun (without a safety) IN the bed with you!!!

Who does that?

Moo

A similar sort of person who carries a loaded sidearm into Walmart in her purse with her 2 year old with her. (Both the police chief and the Walmart mom were folks who would seem to have had some training in gun use.)

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

A similar sort of person who carries a loaded sidearm into Walmart in her purse with her 2 year old with her. (Both the police chief and the Walmart mom were folks who would seem to have had some training in gun use.)

Good point, Montjoy!

Totally reckless!

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Well I don't believe him, unless he was drunk, and if he was drunk, he had no business touching a weapon .. or he's completely lying and he shot her on purpose then regretted it straight away.

 

[nells]

http://gossipextra.com/2015/01/02/william-mccollom-peachtree-police-tree-wife-abuse-4296/

"former Tequesta Police Chief William McCollom‘s then ex-wife told colleagues in a hospital where she worked as a nurse that the policeman was abusive to her!"

Apparently the wife, Margaret or Maggie McCollum, is an ER nurse.

 

[ilovewings]

Just today there was a show on "forensic files" about a woman who claimed she accidentally shot her husband when she tried to move a gun from under a pillow.
Turns out she killed him on purpose. They figured it out by forensic evidence.

I saw that story tonight on Investigtive ID-- there was a book about this case which occurred in 1988. The police chief story reminds me of that case too

 

[MsFacetious]

Really he's kind of an idiot either way.

If he shot her on purpose why did he let her live?

If it was an accident then he's an idiot.

There is really no way to paint this so he's a smart dude. :twocents:

 

[SuzDuJour]

Just today there was a show on "forensic files" about a woman who claimed she accidentally shot her husband when she tried to move a gun from under a pillow.
Turns out she killed him on purpose. They figured it out by forensic evidence.

I remember this. She volunteered to re-enact the accident. So they had a detective lay on the bed and filmed her while she tried to move him into position to make the trajectory match what happened. It was almost comical, except that the poor husband actually died.

 

[jjenny]

I remember this. She volunteered to re-enact the accident. So they had a detective lay on the bed and filmed her while she tried to move him into position to make the trajectory match what happened. It was almost comical, except that the poor husband actually died.

They need to do the reenactment with the police chief here. I would like to see him showing how he could be both sleeping and moving the gun.

 

[gitana1]

They need to do the reenactment with the police chief here. I would like to see him showing how he could be both sleeping and moving the gun.

I don't think that's what he meant. I think he was giving context. They were in bed sleeping right around the time this occurred. Not up, arguing or whatever.

 

[gitana1]

Really he's kind of an idiot either way.

If he shot her on purpose why did he let her live?

If it was an accident then he's an idiot.

There is really no way to paint this so he's a smart dude. :twocents:

He was sort of committed at that point. If he shot her multiple times it would clearly not be an accident. If he waited to let her bleed out, maybe he thought a doctor would figure out how long it would take. Or if someone heard the shot, they could also time it. Then they would know he waited around after the "accident" doing nothing.

But if an intentional shooting, why not the head? A back wound might be easier to recover from.

His tone seemed weird to me though.

 

[Steely Dan]

Nobody with two functioning brain cells does that.

IMO, either this man is too stupid to be police chief, or he did it on purpose. I don't see any other plausible possibility.

Somebody incredibly cocky could do this and there isn't any shortage of those around. JMO

 

[TravelingBug]

It sounds like he thought he'd shot her twice due to the entrance and exit wounds.

He's Chief of Police.

Surely, of all people, he should be able to have noted how many shots he heard fire, no? Especially since it was only either 1 or 2.

I mean, I was just watching the 48 Hours Sole Survivor story that aired last night and the 10 year old girl who was the sole survivor in her family amazingly knew exactly how many shots she heard fired (to the shock of the police!)

And she was 10.

AND she was asleep for the first SEVERAL (that killed her step dad) and thought they were part of a dream, then awoken to her mother's screaming and being shot, then being grazed by a bullet and have another narrowly miss her, and then hearing her brother be shot.

AND then waiting in the house 2 hours until she was sure the killer was gone, then running to grab the phone and hide outside in the cold to call 911 to get help!

Plus, realistically, how many 10 year olds would pay that much attention to something like that even if they were shooting on a shooting range - not that that's typical for little kids, but...

Heck, many 10 year olds likely wouldn't even have ever heard a shot fired IRL to begin with, meaning you'd think the accuracy would be less than that of an adult, and certainly an adult who is EXTREMELY seasoned with guns.

It seems like there HAS to be another bullet somewhere in that room and we're not being told for some reason (and it didn't strike her), or else he intended to take the story another route at first, or else we're going to find out there's another bullet somewhere else or something and he was trying to account for a second bullet they realize is out there or...something.

I wonder if this could this have happened earlier that night even, or even just a bit earlier? Like during a fight or something and then he came up with a story and by then forgot how many shots he fired, thus saying 2.

Yes he could be in shock, but again...it wasn't like trying to count and remember 15, he wasn't caught off guard by it, he wasn't 10 years old, he wasn't unfamiliar with guns, and he wasn't suddenly the only person in his family alive in a house with someone that may still be after him (as she hadn't known)...

Plus he clearly wasn't in THAT much shock. He started the phone call very calmly and matter of fact.

:notgood:

 

[foodle]

He's Chief of Police.
Surely, of all people, he should be able to have noted how many shots he heard fire, no? Especially since it was only either 1 or 2.

He claims to have been partially asleep at the time of the (supposedly) accidental shooting. On the call, it sounds like he's just counting wounds.

Yes, he's the chief of police, but clearly not a very good one. He should also be able to safely have firearms around himself and his wife without someone getting shot, but he clearly cannot.

This article from the Daily Mail (yes, not the best source) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ars-ago-married-South-Florida-RABBI-year.html notes that he had been out of law enforcement for a long time, and only returned in 2012. There are allegations that he got his current job out of cronyism.

I mean, I was just watching the 48 Hours Sole Survivor story that aired last night and the 10 year old girl who was the sole survivor in her family amazingly knew exactly how many shots she heard fired (to the shock of the police!)

Hard to extrapolate from one particular case to a generalization. There are plenty of cases of multiple witnesses to a single shooting event having vastly different recollections about what occurred (who was shooting, who shot first, how many shots, etc.). Just look at how many different versions of the Ferguson events there are from the witnesses (note: not trying to get into the whole Ferguson issue, but just pointing out a recent case where multiple witnesses disagree about what occurred).

 

[TravelingBug]

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

He didn't seem to start out in shock...

He was extremely calm and matter of fact on the phone, as if he was totally detached and doing his job as an LE person.

You'd think if he were in that mode, he'd stay in it another minute or two if he truly just went right into LE mode vs. spouse mode as he had begun, thus his instincts should have continued (IMO) or at least kicked back in once they surely told him to do that.