Sheriff: Man fatally shoots wife he thought was a burglar

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Sheriff: Man fatally shoots wife he thought was a burglar
Updated 4:20 pm, Friday, January 20, 2017


GOLDSBORO, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina authorities say a man fatally shot his wife after he mistook her for a burglar.

News outlets cite the Wayne County Sheriff's Office as saying that 48-year-old Gina Williams had been working an evening shift at a hospital and wasn't expected home until Friday morning. They said when Williams arrived home early and tried to get into the house, it startled her daughter and prompted her husband, Billy Williams, to grab his gun.

Police say Billy Williams opened the front door, saw a figure in the dark and fired a shot, hitting Gina Williams in the neck. She died at the scene.

No charges have been filed against Billy Williams as the investigation continues.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Sheriff-Man-fatally-shoots-wife-he-thought-was-a-10872567.php

---

(Short article, no more at link.)

[raccoon]

1. This so-called responsible gun owner is too damn trigger happy.

I think he should be charged with negligent homicide.

[d_r]

2. yeah, sure he did nt

[Phoenix61]

3. How tragic

So how did all his gun safety training help?

[dionysus]

9. Sounds like he didn't have any. One of the rules is to KNOW WHAT YOU'RE FIRING AT!

what a maroon. Now he'll have to live the rest of his life knowing he killed his wife...

[blm]

4. But the GUN didn't kill her the gun OWNER killed her.

Last edited Fri Jan 20, 2017, 08:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Don't blame guns, blame their owners. Don't register guns, register gun owners.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Sad

Too bad he didn't use a baseball bat, might have had a chance for
a check swing

Technology gave him choices

[KG]

6. yay, guns!

[kimmylavin]

7. Jesus.

WHY no charges?
Trigger-happy moron KILLED a person.
As far as I'm concerned, he's a danger to society.

[Kittycow]

8. Hopefully her family will pressure (if that's the right word)

the authorities to not let this slide. That works occasionally.

[hollowdweller]

10. Why wouldn't he warn them?

A co worker, lived in her deceased parents house on the bad side of town.

One night she hears some one or several people trying to kick her door in.

She loads her dad's 12 gauge and said "I have a 12 gauge shotgun up against this door!"

She said all she could hear was feet running away.

She just started shooting could have been a couple of teenagers.

[Vinca]

11. I know it's a stretch, but try to identify the dark shadow before shooting.

[ileus]

12. Thanks to my GSD and pistol mounted light, this can't happen.

I know what you're thinking...but it's better to have a weapon mounted light ID your target. It can stop tragic events like this...

Safety first....shooting you beloved spouse....never.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Remind me again exactly how it is that guns make us safer?

Charges should absolutely be filed. He murdered her. Maybe the correct legal term will be manslaughter, but he should get to spend at least a few years in prison contemplating just how terrific and wonderful guns are.

[Aristus]

14. Well, now, see, if she had had a gun of her own, she could

have shot him back after she died. To, you know, avenge her own death!

See what you can do when you have a gun?

Guys?

[Beaverhausen]

15. Pretty sure I'd recognize my husband after he used his key to come into our house

I call bullshit

[tenderfoot]

16. Here's an article from a local paper

http://goldsborodailynews.com/blog/2017/01/20/husband-accidentally-shoots-wife-overnight-goldsboro/

<snip>

Detectives interviewed Billy Williams and two juveniles, all of whom were at the home when the shooting occurred. One of the children at the home heard a noise at the front door. The noise startled the child and the child thought someone was attempting to break into the home. The child then went and woke up her father, Billy Williams, advising him that someone was at the front door attempting to get in. Billy Williams retrieved a handgun from the gun safe located in the bedroom and went towards the front door. Unknown to Billy Williams at the time, his wife Gina had left her place of employment early and came home. She was not expected to be home until after 8:00 am. There was no front porch light on at the time and as Billy Williams opened up the front door he was immediately met by a person in the dark. Billy Williams fired one shot which struck his wife in the neck resulting in her death.

At this time, no charges have been filed against Billy Williams. The investigation is still ongoing at this time.

[Nay]

26. So why didn't this nimrod yell out from his safe place behind the door?? "Hey, MFer,

I've got a gun and I've already called 911!!"

Wife: "It's me, honey, I got off work early."

Husband unlocks door, gives wife a kiss, and everybody goes back to bed.


But NOOOOOOOOOO.

His first instinct is to yank open the door and blast away at a shadowy figure. THIS IS WHAT THE GUNHUMPER MENTALITY DOES TO PEOPLE. They lose all common sense because there is a gun in their hand. Rather than being a last resort, the gun's presence makes it a FIRST resort. And we have tragedies like this.

[hunter]

17. The vast majority of burglars have the good sense to steal your guns when no one is home.

I grew up in a house where meeting strangers in the dark was a common experience, and my own house was especially like that when my kids were teenagers.

You figure the stranger in your kitchen is a friend or a friend of a friend, even if they're digging through the drawers looking for something. Quite a few of them were big Black and Hispanic kids. (I've lived most of my life now as a minority white guy. That doesn't mean I'm without privilege.)

I did bump into an armed guy on my back porch once. It was later in the evening and I was taking the kitchen trash out. I stepped out onto the porch and there was a guy with a gun. I looked at him, he looked at me, and then he ran off, jumping over our back fence. I stepped back into the kitchen and locked the door.

Seconds later the police were pounding on our front door wanting to run through our house. I respectfully declined, but I did tell them which way I thought the guy with the gun was headed.

I later found out they'd caught him, and without shooting him.

I've never met anyone I'd care to shoot, and I doubt I ever will. I wouldn't want that sort of person living in my head anyways. My personal reality tends to be a lot more vivid than any confrontation I might imagine.

[djg21]

18. Too fucking bad.

But I've stopped caring about gun nuts and their enabling families who drink the NRA Kool-Aid and undoubtedly vote for pro-gun Republicans. If the wife had put her foot down and said no to guns in her house, she'd be alive right now. Maybe the guilt will get to the husband and he'll turn his gun on himself. You know he won't be prosecuted in a pro-gun state like No. Carolina. So long as they just shoot each other, it's population control for dumbfucks.

[uncle ray]

19. yeah, haha, too fucking bad those kids lost their mother.

good timing there, blame the female victim of gun violence on the day most liberals are standing up for women's rights.

[djg21]

22. It is too bad, actually tragic, for the kids.

But unless this happens to some pro-gun Senators' families, nothing ever is going to change. It's callous, but these people are getting just what they asked and voted for.

[uncle ray]

23. not callous, victim blaming is ignorant at best.

i welcome any iota of evidence that the dead wife voted for anything that led to her being shot dead.

[uncle ray]

25. name calling and projection already?

[HAB911]

20. If the wife had a gun this would never have happend

sar·casm
ˈsärˌkazəm/
noun

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

[enid602]

27. Dang!

Dang! Looks like he'll either have to get a job now, or find another woman who has one.

[xor]

28. Why the hell do these people shoot without identifying what they are firing at?

These sorts of things happen often enough that you'd think people would control their fear enough to ensure they are shooting their family members or friends.

[ManiacJoe]

29. Gun Safety Rule #4

Know your target, what is behind it, and what is beyond it.

There is no excuse for what happened.

[xor]

30. This guy should be charged with something...

Manslaughter, maybe? Letting people get away with such negligence seems irresponsible. People who choose to own weapons need to know there are consequences for poor decision making in these situations. Even if the majority of people with guns do not carelessly shoot innocent people. there are enough stupid people who seem to be reminded that there consequences not only for those they shoot but also for themselves. Plus it would stop any of those "I'll shoot this person and then claim it was an accident" sort of situation.

I feel sorry for the kids who alerted their father of the noise. Even though it's not their fault that their father is a moron, I could see how they might being questioning how things would have been different if they didn't say anything.