- April 26, 2024
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A grand jury decided Monday not to indict a former Flagler Beach Police officer in the shooting of his wife.
Robert James MacDonald was the only person of interest in the shooting that left his wife Kathryn blind, and retired from the department in January after 18 months of paid administrative leave, according to information published in the Daytona Beach News Journal.
But he was not charged with the shooting, which happened July 20, 2012, although three medics told a deputy they heard Kathryn MacDonald say her husband had shot her.
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers got the call for an ambulance at 6:33 p.m., not from 911 but from the patrol radio in MacDonald’s police cruiser, according to a Sheriff’s Office incident report.
MacDonald, in the call, referred to it as a fall or accident. He initally asked for an ambulance at his Bunnell home, but then said he'd meet up with the ambulance near the intersection of county road 302 and 305 at Tucker’s Insurance.
The deputy arrived at the scene at 6:46, and just before she did, she “was advised that the female patient possibly shot herself in the head and was drunk and combative,” according to the report.
The report doesn’t say who told her that. When she got there, rescuers were strapping Kathryn MacDonald to a backboard. MacDonald’s face was covered in blood, and a medic pointed out a wound on her right temple.
Robert MacDonald told the deputy he thought his wife had shot herself in the head with his .38 snub nose, according to the report. He said he’d arrived home from work and found her inside with blood on her face, and that when he’d asked her what happened, she’s said she’d fallen.
The responding deputy asked Kathryn what happened, and she didn’t reply. She didn’t answer the question when medics asked either, and when her husband asked, she said, “I’ll tell you later,” according to the report.
But after FireFlight transported the woman from the scene, three paramedics told the deputy that she said her husband shot her.
The “no true bill” returned by the grand jury Monday does not mean the case is closed. Charges could be filed later if investigators unearth more evidence.
