Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill has found himself at the center of yet another scandal, this time stemming from the Sunday night shooting of a female real estate agent working inside a model home in Lawrenceville, (that’s in Gwinnett County, not Clayton, for those keeping score at home). The woman, 43 year old Gwenevere McCord, a known ‘acquaintance’ of Hill, was shot once in the abdomen by the Clayton Sheriff and remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The Sheriff was released from the scene of the crime without being charged due to a Georgia law that states that regular police officers are unable to arrest a sitting Sheriff. Hill could still be charged, but according to Gwinnett police Sgt. Brian Doan, “there are things that have to be done before you, (a sitting Sheriff) can be charged with a crime.”
Hill has yet to give a statement regarding the incident.
This is hardly the first time Hill has found himself embroiled in controversy. In 2013 he was accused of illegally using his county-issued credit card to make personal purchases. He was later cleared of those charges. Upon taking office for his first term in 2005, Hill fired 27 department employees in an incident rife with racial overtones. All of the top ranking officials fired were white, and Hill made little secret of his intention to replace them with black officers. The fired employees sued the county for wrongful termination, winning $7 million and their jobs back.
The former State Rep. was also involved in a case where he distributed police badges to friends and supporters, which was never resolved.
