Man tells police he shot wife while removing gun from holster

He called 911 shortly after 12:30 a.m. and said he had accidentally shot his wife.

Officers who responded to the dark-brick house at 20th and Salina early Wednesday found a 32-year-old woman dead in the living room, Lt. Todd Ojile said. Her husband told officers he had removed his gun holster from his belt and was removing the gun from the holster when it discharged.

“He was upset” when discussing what happened, Ojile said of the husband.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:54 a.m. A police document identified her as Rebecca Campbell.

Her 33-year-old husband was taken downtown for questioning, Ojile said.

“We’re still trying to figure out how the gun was actually fired and what occurred,” Ojile said.

The husband was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail by Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said.

It will be up to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office to decide what charges, if any, will be filed.

“You can get into the reckless handling of the firearm, or the recklessness of the incident” in determining whether charges are filed, Ojile said.

A 5-year-old girl was asleep inside the house at the time of the shooting, Ojile said. An officer brought her outside and she was placed in the custody of relatives.

“The child did not wake up until the officer had her,” Ojile said.

This was the eighth homicide of the year in Wichita.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 6:56 AM with the headline "Man tells police he shot wife while removing gun from holster."