Georgia Sheriff Charged With Misdemeanor In Shooting Of Real Estate Agent, Released On $2,950 Bond

A sheriff from Atlanta, Georgia area was charged with misdemeanor on Wednesday for shooting a real estate agent inside a model home. Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill was charged with reckless conduct for the incident that wounded real estate agent Gwenevere McCord in the home roughly 50 miles from Hill’s office on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

The sheriff was reportedly released on a $2,950 bond on Wednesday night.

Authorities said, citing a 911 call made by Hill, that the sheriff was conducting “police training exercises” in the home when he accidentally shot McCord, the AP reported.

McCord was shot in the abdomen and was unable to tell investigators what happened, and Hill refused to do so, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter told the AP. Porter said he still has basic questions about the events that took place at the model home, which is well outside Hill’s jurisdiction.

"The statement on the 911 tape was that they were doing police training exercises," he said. The presence of some items at the scene "sort of make you think about that,” he told the AP.

Authorities have not yet released the 911 call, and Porter refused to reveal specific details about the evidence found at the scene, the AP reported.

The issue raised the question of whether Hill was given special treatment due to his position as a law enforcement official, after he was allowed to leave the scene on Sunday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Porter had previously told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that authorities weren’t sure if they could bring charges against Hill. According to Georgia law, "a sitting sheriff cannot be charged except by a warrant issued by a Superior Court judge," he had said earlier. "The only way we could have compelled him to the police station was to arrest him and we didn't feel we had enough evidence at that point to make a decision on the arrest."

Hill’s time as sheriff has been marked with several controversies. On his first day on the job, he fired over two dozen deputy sheriffs. He also used a military tank during a drug raid, according to the AP.

In an official statement on Tuesday, Hill said he was involved in a “tragic and heartbreaking accident,” but did not give any further details. “Please understand that for the past 48 hours, I have been entirely focused on Gwenevere and her family,” he added.