A Florida husband thought there was someone outside his bedroom door and decided to shoot at what he thought was an intruder. It turns out it was his pregnant wife.
Authorities believe the incident was nothing more than a fatal mistake. In a press briefing, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said the husband heard a noise outside his bedroom door in Stuart past midnight Wednesday.
He did not realize his wife was not in the bedroom when he went out to check with a pistol. He saw a shape in the hallway, and shot at it once. He immediately called 911 upon realizing it was his wife. She took a bullet to the head.
The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she later died. WPBF News reported she was six months pregnant and doctors were able to save the baby.
According to Snyder, what happened was "a nightmare case." "You know somebody who thinks he is defending his home -- actually shoots his wife," the Miami Herald reported.
A two-year-old child was in the home when the grisly shooting happened, authorities said. Deputies cited Marsy's Law in not disclosing the identities of the victim or her husband.
The sheriff said there's no indication that the shooting was more than just a tragic error in judgment, but the incident is still being treated, as in all gunshot deaths, as a suspicious homicide.
Snyder said the husband gave them a "pretty in-depth statement, in which he said he thought he heard somebody in the house, went to investigate with a gun, saw a shape in the hallway and fired one round and sadly, it turned out to be his wife," The Canadian Press quoted him as saying, as published in Castanet.
Although the police have a good statement from the husband, they said they don't take anything at "face value" and they will continue to investigate through all backgrounds, reports said. "There is plenty of of investigative actions that we will have to make sure that he is telling the truth," WPBF quoted him in a report.
Snyder warned that when households keep guns in their home, they have to be very careful and aware.
Meanwhile, detectives returned to the scene with forensics Wednesday night to conduct more tests and gather evidence -- including examining at how dark it was it the hallway where the wife was shot. Detectives are awaiting autopsy results.
