Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill released a statement Thursday morning, the day after he was charged with reckless conduct in connection with the shooting of a woman inside a Gwinnett County model home.
He said he intends to “continue (his) duties” as sheriff.
“I want to thank you all for your continued prayers for Gwenevere, and ask that you continue to keep her and her family lifted in prayer,” Hill, who was released on $2,950 bond after turning himself in Wednesday night on the misdemeanor charge, said in his statement. “As a result the tragic accident, I was charged with Reckless Conduct, a Misdemeanor, in Gwinnett County.”
“While focused on the recovery and healing of Gwenevere, I will simultaneously continue with my duties and responsibilities as the Sheriff of Clayton County. Please continue to pray for Gwenevere and her family.”
Hill turned himself in at the Gwinnett County jail around 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, less than three hours after Gwinnett County police issued a warrant charging him in the Sunday evening shooting of real estate agent and friend Gwenevere McCord.
McCord was shot in the stomach and critically injured. Hill has remained silent on the details of the shooting, both publicly and with investigators.
McCord’s father, Ernest McCord, told Channel 2 Action News that he doesn’t think Hill should have been arrested.
“I didn’t believe that he had done anything wrong against her intentionally from the beginning,” he said.
Ernest McCord said Hill is a family friend who was teaching his daughter how to shoot a weapon, and a doctor told him that his daughter told paramedics Hill didn’t mean to shoot her.
The warrant issued Wednesday accused Hill of “consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk, to wit: Practicing police tactics while in a model home open to the public with a loaded firearm, which would cause the harm of said person…”
The “practicing police tactics” aspect is, according to previous statements of Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, drawn from Hill’s original 911 call. Porter has said Hill’s 911 call that evening contradicted evidence gathered at the Lawrenceville-area model home where McCord was shot.
Porter told Channel 2 that the 911 call has just been enhanced and he has received the paramedics’ records. Channel 2 reported that Gwenevere McCord can be heard on the call saying something that vindicated Hill, but Porter would not say specifically what she said.
“But I can say that it’s consistent with a reckless act rather than an intentional act,” Porter said.
Since Hill was charged with only a misdemeanor, his statement Thursday about remaining sheriff carries water. Gov. Nathan Deal’s office told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday that the governor “has no authority to intervene when an elected official is charged with a misdemeanor.”
Hill is in his second term as sheriff and began his current term Jan. 1, 2013. He was also sheriff from January 2005 through 2008.
Both of his terms in office have included controversy. In 2013, Hill was acquitted of racketeering charges related to his use of a county-issued credit card.
During the final week of his first term, Hill filed for bankruptcy, due partly to the amount of money he owed in damages for lawsuits against him. On his first day in office in 2005, Hill fired 27 deputies, who later sued for wrongful termination. They won their jobs back and settled for $7 million, which was paid by Clayton County.
Wednesday night, Hill declined to speak to reporters as he entered and then left the Gwinnett jail.
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