Share and Follow
Inset: Joseph Halpin (North Olmstead police). Background: The home in North Olmstead, Ohio, where Halpin allegedly shot his wife (Google Maps).
In Ohio, a man has been charged with murder following the tragic shooting of his wife during a domestic dispute. Joseph Halpin, 42, is accused of fatally shooting 39-year-old Laura Hoopengardner in their North Olmstead residence, a suburb of Cleveland.
The incident unfolded on Friday evening around 6:30 p.m. when Halpin made a frantic call to 911. He informed dispatchers that he had cocked a gun and that it accidentally discharged, striking his wife in the abdomen. “She’s on the ground,” Halpin told the dispatcher, adding, “She’s scared,” according to a press release from the North Olmstead Police Department.
The distressing 911 call, obtained by Law&Crime, captured Halpin allegedly speaking to another individual, saying, “I didn’t mean to. The gun just went off.” Authorities instructed him to apply pressure to the wound with clean cloths while they expedited their response to the scene.
When officers arrived at the couple’s home on Lorain Road, they reportedly found Halpin with a gun pointed at his own head, further intensifying the already tense situation.
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.