Inset: Joseph Halpin (North Olmstead police). Background: The home in North Olmstead, Ohio, where Halpin allegedly shot his wife (Google Maps).
An Ohio man fatally shot his wife after an argument and then called 911, telling dispatchers the gun went off by accident and she was “on the ground” and “scared,” authorities say.
Joseph Halpin, 42, faces a murder charge in the death of his wife, 39-year-old Laura Hoopengardner, in North Olmstead, a Cleveland suburb. Halpin called 911 around 6:30 p.m. Friday and said he cocked a gun and it accidentally went off, hitting her in the abdomen at their home in the 31000 block of Lorain Road, a press release from North Olmstead police said.
“She”s on the ground,” Halpin said, according to the 911 call obtained by Law&Crime. “She’s scared.”
Halpin, apparently talking to someone else, allegedly said “I didn’t mean to. The gun just went off.”
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Dispatchers told him to get some clean cloths and put pressure on the wound. Cops rushed to the scene and entered the home and reportedly saw Halpin holding a gun to his head.
“Put the gun down,” an officer yelled. “Dude, put it down! We can work this out, man! We can work this out! I don’t want to shoot you!”
“This is not good,” a dispatcher said as he heard the situation play out.
After nearly two minutes, Halpin dropped the gun and cops took him into custody. They went inside and found Hoopengardner suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to the hospital where doctors pronounced her dead.
Cops say Halpin shot his wife after an argument but did not expand on what it was about. He does not have a criminal record and there were no prior reports about domestic violence in the home.
Halpin waived his preliminary hearing and is awaiting a decision from a grand jury about whether he will be indicted on the murder charge. He is currently in the Cuyahoga County Jail on a $1 million bond.
