"Good Police Officer Almost Kills Wife"
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Rockport Officer Robert F. O'Neil was arraigned on a charge of attempted murder GLOUCESTER, MASS -- A veteran Rockport police officer who once investigated domestic abuse for the department was ordered held without bail yesterday for allegedly firing a gun 6 inches from his wife's head during a violent argument, authorities said. Robert F. O'Neil, 38, of Rockport looked downward yesterday in Gloucester District Court as his wife, Rosa, sobbed during O'Neil's arraignment on a charge of attempted murder . Rosa said the shooting occurred Friday morning after Robert had a night of heavy drinking, authorities reported. O'Neil, who has been a Rockport police officer since 1994, has been suspended without pay pending a hearing by the Rockport Board of Selectmen, which has the authority to fire him. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Rosa O'Neil, 36, told police her husband pointed a .40-caliber Glock handgun at her and fired it into the chair where she sat , following two nights in which he had been drinking steadily and taking prescription medications, investigators said in a criminal complaint. Crying, with the couple's 2year-old daughter, Isabella, nearby, Rosa O'Neil called police at 11 a.m. Friday with the only phone that her husband had not destroyed or damaged, authorities said. Three officers responded to the Darby Lane home, where Rosa O'Neil "was visibly in shock, hysterical, and was only able to relay at this time that Bobby had shot at her with a big gun," said Sergeant Mark Schmink in court documents. She told police that her husband slapped her and pushed her down into the chair before firing the weapon, court papers said. O'Neil surrendered to police without incident . Defense lawyer Eric Goldman said O'Neil was remorseful and had asked about the welfare of his wife and daughter. Rosa O'Neil told police the argument started after her husband carried her daughter from breakfast in one arm while holding a beer in another, according to the complaint. "At this point, she told him she had enough and it was over," Schmink wrote. As she called her sister in the Dominican Republic, Rosa O'Neil told police, Robert took the phone away and slapped his wife as their daughter sat in her lap. The argument carried throughout the house, ending in the living room. "This was when she noticed the gun in his hand," Schmink wrote in the complaint. "He then stood up and walked toward her, and she covered her face with her hands, because he was pointing the gun directly at her head. As he stood over her, he fired a live round out of his weapon into the chair directly beside her head." Robert O'Neil went upstairs with Isabella, and his wife called police, Schmink said. As he headed upstairs, O'Neil called back to Rosa and said, "Don't worry, they will be here soon," the complaint said. Police Chief Tom McCarthy said yesterday that O'Neil had recently regressed in his struggles with substance abuse after making significant progress that included help from the employeeassistance program. McCarthy said O'Neil had been the department's domestic abuse officer until about five years ago. More recently, he had other assignments, such as computer maintenance and helping with investigations. "Bob is a very good police officer," McCarthy said. "It's a shock to our entire police department. It's something that will take everyone a while to recover from." O'Neil was being held at the Essex House of Correction in Middleton until a hearing Friday to review whether he would pose a danger if granted bail. |
