Shain Germaner
Johannesburg: A Florida woman was in a stable condition in hospital last night after she was “accidentally” shot in the face while trying to stop her police officer husband from committing suicide.
Yesterday, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) detained the officer on charges of attempted murder after the incident.
Ipid spokeswoman Grace Langa said that on Saturday the police constable had taken his service pistol from his station with the intention to shoot himself at his Florida home.
“According to the suspect, when he was about to shoot himself, his wife came and tried to take away the gun from him, which led to the wife being shot accidentally in her face,” said Langa.
Ipid was immediately called to the scene, with the woman rushed to a nearby hospital.
“The officer is being detained at the Florida police station and will appear in court on Tuesday.
“An Ipid investigator will visit the victim in hospital to assess her condition and for further investigations. Depending on her condition, we will then take her statement if she is not in a coma.”
Langa said the probe would determine if the suspect’s story was true, with investigators wanting to know from the wife if the shooting might have been caused by an argument or other cause.