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Deputy demoted after gun incident
An internal investigation finds that the lieutenant, now a sergeant, fired her gun inside her home and never reported it.
By JACOB FRIES
Published May 16, 2006
A Pinellas County sheriff's lieutenant was demoted to sergeant and suspended for four days after investigators found that she had fired her gun inside her home and never reported it, according to records made public Monday. Kathy Hamilton-Scott, 50, a 24-year veteran assigned to patrol, was also given a year of probation. She served her suspension earlier this month. Details of the shooting emerged in March after her husband, Denis Scott, gave a deposition for the couple's divorce. Scott, 50, is also employed by the Sheriff's Office as a bailiff. He said the shooting occurred Oct. 1, 2004, shortly after the couple argued in their Oldsmar home. Scott had turned his attention back to the television when a shot rang out, hitting a wall in the room where he was sitting. His wife immediately said it was an accident, Scott said. Scott received a one-day suspension for failing to report the shooting. Hamilton-Scott disputed his account of the shooting, saying it happened about 15 years ago when she was cleaning her gun. She told internal affairs investigators that her husband was raising the issue because of their pending divorce after 20 years of marriage. Sheriff's detectives investigated the shooting as a possible aggravated assault, but Scott said he was not interested in pressing charges. Hamilton-Scott could not be reached for comment Monday.
[Last modified May 16, 2006, 06:26:36]
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