Atlanta Attorney Says He Accidentally Fatally Shot Wife as They Drove Home – and Blames Black Lives Matter Protestors

A prominent Atlanta attorney says he accidentally shot his executive wife in the back when a gun in his lap fired after their car hit a speed bump.

Claud “Tex” McIver was in the back seat when he says his .38 snub-nose revolver went off, wounding his wife Diane who was seated in the front passenger seat. She died in surgery several hours later at Emory University Hospital last Monday. She was 63.

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McIver says he and his wife were being driven home by Diane’s best friend when their Ford Explorer was approached by several individuals during a week in which there were many Black Lives Matter protests in the area, according to Bill Crane, a McIver family friend, who spoke to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday.

Fearing they were about to be carjacked, McIver pulled out his gun from the center console as a precaution. McIver was falling asleep with the gun in his lap and has no recollection of pulling the trigger, Crane told the newspaper.

The Atlanta Police Department released an incident report on Wednesday as the Fulton County Medical Examiner revealed Diane died of a gunshot wound to the back that had passed through the seat. Authorities said the incident remains under investigation.

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Following the incident, Crane told the AJC that McIver “is under extreme duress. Trauma.”

Diane was president of the Atlanta-based marketing company Corey Airport Services, where she had worked for 43 years. Employees described her as a “passionate leader and prominent businesswoman” on the company’s Facebook page.