Gun safety?

[Big RR]

Perhaps, but I just think how many times people just get "accidentally" shot when someone was cleaning a loaded gun.

[BoSoxGal]

Okay, at first I thought I'd sound too cynical by pointing to the possibility of intentional 'accident'; now I've heard his 911 call and I'm thinking he doesn't sound terribly upset.

Found it here: http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/off ... leeps.html

[Lord Jim]

To me the element that argues the strongest for this being an actual accident is the fact that he shot her in the back...she's in critical condition, but may survive...

It seems to me that if you wanted to fake an accident in this situation, you'd go for a head shot...

This guy is the police chief; surely he'd know where to shoot someone to make sure they didn't survive...

I think unconscionable stupidity is a more likely explanation than malicious intent...

[Big RR]

Maybe Jim, or maybe this guy was just a bad shot. One would hope a police chief would be a pretty good shot at close range (and would know how to kill with a head shot), but I would hope even more that a police chief wouldn't be so stupid as to sleep with a loaded gun (apparently with the safety off) under his pillow.

Maybe he didn't kill her because he wants her to suffer more?

[MajGenl.Meade]

It's a much tougher shot to accidentally hit the head...

[Lord Jim]

But if you leave a person alive in a situation like this you run the risk that they'll contradict your story of what happened...

[Econoline]

It's a much tougher shot to accidentally hit the head...

...unless your target is asleep.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Er, key word there was 'accidentally'

ETA irony, cynical, etc.

[Lord Jim]

But an "accidental" shot to the head would be consistent with the story of the gun going off while it was being moved from underneath the pillow; it would be in pretty much the right location to make that plausible...

[MajGenl.Meade]

I bow to your greater experience of how to make shooting one's spouse appear accidental

[Lord Jim]

And I'll bow to your greater experience of knowing how to avoid being a victim of the same...

[Joe Guy]

My theory is the Chief had his chance and blew it. He thought he could take her out in one shot and call it accidental, but when the shot turned out to not be fatal, he knew it would be difficult to convince others that a second or third accidental shot killed his wife.

Unless there is a hidden video, his wife won't know what happened and neither will the police.

He will lose his job though and his wife will be more of a pain than she was prior to being shot. At some point he will probably wish he had accidentally shot her several times.