Patrick Gravelle, a South Florida police officer, was arrested on July 12 after a frantic 911 call by his stepson. The caller claimed that officer Gravelle was threatening to murder him and the officer's wife, and ultimately commit suicide. The incident took place as the officer allegedly pointed a loaded gun at his stepson while ordering to leave the house or suffer the consequences.

The 41-year-old Sunrise police department officer was arrested following the nerve-racking call to police. However, his wife claims that this was not the first time officer Gravelle had acted this way, as he had previously threatened to kill her and dump her body in the Everglades.

Additionally, she showed the officers at the scene some bruises around her body from an incident that took place earlier that week.

In response to her lack of communication with the police, she claimed that she was too afraid to call 911 sooner because of what her husband might do to her.

The officer proceeded to claim that his stepson was aggressively coming toward him, presumably in a heated argument, and denied ever pointing the loaded weapon at him. The South Florida officer also accused him of taking steroids in an attempt to strengthen his self-defense argument.

Released on Bail

To the wife's surprise, the officer was actually released on bail the following day. She has admitted to WPLG, a local News station, that she believes he will end her life when he gets out of jail.

Officer Gravelle is currently suspended with pay, though he was ordered to stay away from his wife until the matter is effectively resolved. Unfortunately, the officer might still approach her due to his suicidal mentality, having nothing left to lose should he decide to end her life as well as his own.

The National Center for Women and Policing says that domestic violence is up to four times more likely to occur among law enforcement families. Sadly, cases of violence are not always reported due to overwhelming fear among family members. Their police family violence fact sheet states that "Victims often fear calling the police, because they know the case will be handled by officers who are colleagues and/or friends of their abuser."