Florida 911 Dispatcher Accidentally Shoots and Kills Daughter
A 27-year-old Florida woman was pronounced dead Wednesday morning, the victim of a shooting by her mother, who mistook her for an intruder.
The Orlando Sentinel reports Sherry Campbell, who works as a 911 dispatcher, told investigators she was awakened by what she thought was a stranger breaking into her home. That noise was actually the sound of her daughter, Ashley Doby, moving about the house. Campbell fired a single shot that fatally struck Doby in the chest.
The 911 call was made by Doby’s stepfather, St. Cloud police officer Claude Campbell, Jr, who told the dispatcher Doby had “passed out” due to a long-standing heart problem, but did not indicate that she had been shot. Investigators say Campbell, who had been sleeping when the shot was fired, did not notice the bullet wound in his stepdaughter’s chest.
St. Cloud police sergeant Denise Roberts issued a statement to the Sentinel and other outlets indicating that the “homeowner's story is consistent with the physical evidence and the witness' statement. At this time, the incident appears to be an accidental shooting; however, the investigation is ongoing.”
According to studies, a gun in the home is “22 times more likely to be used to kill or injure in a domestic homicide, suicide, or unintentional shooting than to be used in self-defense.”
(h/t Orlando Sentinel)
