article: A Georgia police chief who said he accidentally shot his ex-wife while they slept was indicted on Wednesday on a misdemeanor reckless-conduct charge, a prosecutor said. Peachtree City Police Chief William McCollom called 911 early New Year's Day to report inadvertently shooting his ex-wife, Margaret, as they slept in their suburban Atlanta home. The shooting left Margaret McCollom paralyzed below the waist. McCollom resigned from the chief's job in March. Peachtree City Chief of Police William McCollom, pictured left, dialed 911 to report accidentally shooting his wife Margaret, right, as she slept in their suburban Atlanta home early New Year's Day . Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard said investigators found no evidence McCollom intended to harm Margaret McCollom. However, Ballard said he concluded the shooting could have been prevented. The prosecutor said McCollom told investigators he drank alcohol and took medication to help him sleep. Ballard said the investigation showed that McCollom, a former firearms instructor, woke during the night when he heard barking dogs, prompting him to grab his service handgun from a dresser and search the house. He returned to bed with the gun and told investigators he woke next to the sound of a gunshot, Ballard said. The chief said he suspected he might have been trying in his sleep to move the gun to a nightstand. 'The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, and I put it to a side and it went off,' McCollom told a 911 dispatcher, according to a recording of the call. McCollom worked in policing for nearly 30 years in Wyoming, Florida and Georgia. He resigned from the police chief position in Georgia in March . Investigators found no evidence that McCollom was trying to hurt Margaret. He was indicted on Wednesday on a misdemeanor reckless-conduct charge . Margaret McCollom told police at the hospital that she was asleep when the shooting happened but believed it was an accident, according to state investigators. The couple divorced in 1999 but later reunited. 'When I look at the facts, it appears to me that this is reckless conduct,' Ballard said. If convicted, McCollom could face a year in jail. McCollom's defense attorney, Thomas Cook Jr., did not respond to a message seeking comment. McCollom worked in policing for nearly 30 years in Wyoming, Florida and Georgia. Personnel records showed no evidence of criminality, serious misconduct or recklessness in his past. The New Year's Day shooting happened after McCollom had woken up to a noise and walked around with his gun before bringing it back to bed with him .
highlights: William McCollom, the chief of police in Peachtree City, Georgia, called 911 on January 1 to say he had accidentally shot his wife, Margaret .
  Margaret was left paralyzed below the waist and believes it was an accident .
  McCollom resigned from chief position in March after working in policing for nearly three decades .
  He was indicted on a reckless-conduct charge on Wednesday .
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