The son of a woman shot multiple times Tuesday describes her accused shooter, his step-dad, as a “monster.”
Detectives said William A. Bolling, 72, was arguing with his wife, Vicki, 64, inside their home on 74th Circle NE in St. Petersburg when he produced a handgun and fired at least one round inside the house shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Police said Bolling then fired several rounds from inside the house at his fleeing wife, who had run out onto the back porch. Vicki Bolling was struck several times in the lower body.
Vicki Bolling then ran to the side of the house, where she collapsed, police said.
Police said William Bolling approached his wife with the gun in his hand, then went back inside the house to call 911.
Bolling's 911 call was the second call they received with regards to the shooting. They were initially alerted to the shooting when a neighbor reported seeing a woman lying outside on the lawn, and that the woman's husband was standing outside with a gun, police said.
“We saw her come running out as if she were trying to get away,” said Beth Scognamiglio, a neighbor. “We saw her collapse on the side yard and then he came out with a gun, clearly having shot her. And what seemed like forever, we saw her flailing around a little bit. Clearly, she was still alive."
Speaking to Bay News 9 outside Bayfront Medical Center where his mother was transported, the victim’s son, John Stevenson, called his step-dad a "monster."
“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, you don’t think Disney villains exist in real life. They do,” he said.
Stevenson says doctors told him that his mom's going to lose one of her legs because the bullet severed an artery as it passed through- if she even makes it at all.
“One bullet went through her leg. Of course, severed the artery. It’s pulverized. There’s no saving that. The other bullets went through her intestines. They pretty much had to remove all of it. So, there’s no blood flow going through there," he said. "(The doctor) wouldn’t even give her a 20-percent chance of surviving this.”
William Bolling was taken into custody without incident. He is charged with attempted homicide.
Police say Williams had been drinking alcohol when he shot his wife.
Stevenson says he'd been warning his mom for years that Williams was going to try and kill her someday.
“My mother a wonderful, sweet woman just couldn’t see it and now it’s too late,” he said. “She lived with his abuse, she took her marriage vows seriously.”
Stevenson says his mom got an award from President George W. Bush for her service.
“She was the personal secretary of the Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Starting with the first President Bush, through the Clinton years, through the second President Bush,” Stevenson said.
The couple has been married for 32 years.
Police say they do not know what the couple was arguing about prior to the shooting.