Someone's Lying About George Zimmerman's Gun
There was an altercation between George Zimmerman, his estranged wife and her father Monday, and originally it involved Zimmerman brandishing a gun. But now the story has changed and no one can decide whether or not Zimmerman had a gun on him or where it was during the argument.
.There was an altercation between George Zimmerman, his estranged wife and her father Monday, and originally it involved Zimmerman brandishing a gun. But now the story has changed and no one can decide whether or not Zimmerman had a gun on him or where it was during the argument.
Here's what we know. Around 2:30 p.m. Monday, Shellie Zimmerman called 911 dispatchers in Lake Mary, Florida to report that Zimmerman got into a physical confrontation with her father and was now brandishing a gun. Via her 911 call and statements made through her attorney later, Shellie alleged Zimmerman punched her father in the nose, pulled a knife on her after she discovered a gun in the house, and smashed an iPad in anger.
Here is Shellie Zimmerman's 911 call, via WKMG.
Zimmerman was briefly detained at the scene, but otherwise is now free. Shellie and her father, David Dean, decided not to press charges. A few days before, Shellie announced the couple was filing for divorce. This tiff was by far the worst in Zimmerman's string of run-ins with the law since he was acquitted of all charges relating to the death of 17-year-old Travon Martin. "I don’t know what he’s capable of," Shellie Zimmerman told the 911 dispatchers. There was a gun involved, until there wasn't. Both sides have changed their stories slightly overnight and now no one can find the gun Zimmerman allegedly had.
The house where the altercation took place belongs to Shellie's parents, but the couple had been living there prior to their divorce. The source of the altercation, Zimmerman's former attorney Mark O'Mara told reporters Monday evening, was that Shellie and her father were supposed to be moved out already when they surprised his former client on Monday. Per the Orlando Sentinel:
"I think everybody got out of hand. There was touching, pushing," O'Mara said. It was a case of emotions boiling over, he said.
O'Mara also said his client didn't threaten anyone with his gun: "The gun was holstered under his shirt, and it stayed there the whole time."
So, according to Zimmerman's former attorney and de facto spokesperson, his gun was on his person but never revealed during the hullabaloo at the house. And according to Lake Mary Police Chief Steve Bracknell, Shellie Zimmerman decided she never saw a gun despite her panicked 911 call in which she urged her father to get behind a car in case he starts shooting. Click Orlando reports:
Hours later, Shellie Zimmerman changed her story and said she never saw a firearm, said Bracknell. For the time being, "domestic violence can't be invoked because she has changed her story and says she didn't see a firearm," Bracknell said.
In the confusion Monday afternoon, some early reports said the police confiscated Zimmerman's gun. Except hat's not the case; there was no gun found at the scene. The police didn't confiscate anything. "Nobody saw a gun," Lake Mary police officer Zach Hudson told reporters. "We did not find a gun on his body. We did not find a gun in the house. As of right now, there is no gun." The gun is missing completely from the story.
So now the hunt to find Zimmerman's gun is on. Someone's not telling the truth in this situation, evidently, and it's not exactly clear who. Police are now reviewing security camera footage and trying to get a warrant to search Zimmerman's truck to locate the missing gun.
Zimmerman is free to go, though, because no one decided to press charges. Police can only collect as much evidence as they can in case Shellie Zimmerman or David Dean change their mind and decide to press charges. Otherwise, he's a free man once again.