On Wednesday a sheriff from Georgia was charged with misdemeanor for shooting a real estate agent. According to a spokeswoman for Gwinnett County’ sheriff, Shannon Volkodav, after critically wounding the real estate agent Gwenevere McCord, the sheriff of Clayton County, Victor Hill, was charged with reckless conduct. The incident took place on Sunday inside a model home placed nearly 50 miles away from Hill’s office. The sheriff was released Wednesday night on a $2,950 bond.
Authorities say that according to the 911 call made by Hill the sheriff shot McCord accidentally while he was conducting a “police training exercise”. The house was outside Hill’s jurisdiction. Attorney Danny Porter of the Gwinnett County District claimed that he questions Hill’s account.
According to Porter after being shot in the abdomen McCord was physically unable to relate to the investigators what happened and Sheriff Hill refused to say anything. Hill and McCord were alone inside the house when the incident happened and according to the investigators Hill left the scene without giving an official statement. Danny Porter confessed:
“The statement on the 911 tape was that they were doing police training exercises. The presence of some items at the scene sort of makes you think about that.”
Porter refused to give further specific details about the evidence found at the scene and the 911 call was not yet released.
Hill’s career as a sheriff was marked by controversy. Ten years ago, he fired over two dozens of deputies on his first day. Another incident is the time when he was conducting drug raids and used a military tank in order to send a tough-on-crime message. In 2008 Sheriff Hill was voted out of office, but in 2012 he won his position back although he was faced with over two dozens of criminal charges in a corruption case, including false statements and theft. Later he was acquitted of all the 27 charges and he continued being a sheriff.
This incident raised questions regarding Hill’s position as a law enforcement official and whether he was given special treatment because of this position. Porter explained that the authorities were not sure whether they could charge Hill since according to Georgia law a sitting sheriff can only be charged by a warrant issued by a Superior Court judge. The only way Hill could have been taken to the police station was to arrest him, but Porter claimed that at that time they did not have enough evidence to make a decision regarding the arrest.
Image Source: The Washington Times
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