Georgia police chief who shot ex-wife in bed pleads guilty

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. -A Georgia police chief who said he accidentally shot his ex-wife while they slept pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor reckless-conduct charge and was sentenced to a year probation, reports CBS affiliate WGCL.

Then-Peachtree City Police Chief William McCollom called 911 early New Year's Day to report inadvertently shooting his ex-wife, Margaret, as they slept in their suburban Atlanta home. The shooting left Margaret McCollom paralyzed below the waist. William McCollom resigned from the chief's job in March.

In deciding to charge William McCollom with reckless conduct, Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard said in April that investigators found no evidence William McCollom intended to harm his ex-wife, but added that the shooting could have been prevented.

Margaret McCollom CBS Atlanta

Ballard said William McCollom told investigators he drank alcohol and took medication to help him sleep that night. According to Ballard, an investigation found William McCollom, a former firearms instructor, woke during the night when he heard barking dogs, prompting him to grab his service handgun from a dresser and search the house. He returned to bed with the gun and told investigators he woke next to the sound of a gunshot, Ballard said.

"The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, and I put it to a side and it went off," William McCollom told a 911 dispatcher, according to a recording of the call.

Margaret McCollom told police at the hospital that she was asleep when the shooting happened but believed it was an accident, according to state investigators. The couple divorced in 1999 but later reunited.

William McCollom worked in policing for nearly 30 years in Wyoming, Florida and Georgia. Personnel records reviewed by 48 Hours' Crimesider showed no evidence of criminality, serious misconduct or recklessness in his past.

According to WGCL, William McCollom now lives in Florida. It is unclear whether Margaret McCollom lives there as well.

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