Zimmerman domestic dispute his latest strife

Hours later,  after police converged on the home in an Orlando suburb and after speaking to her attorney, she changed her story, said Lake Mary Police Chief Steve Bracknell. She said she never saw a gun and that she and her father, whom she said Zimmerman had punched in the face, had no interest in pressing charges. Police later said they did not find a gun on Zimmerman’s person.

The encounter Monday was the latest in a string of events that have landed Zimmerman in the news since his acquittal July 13 of all charges for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Besides Shellie Zimmerman’s filing for divorce last week, George Zimmerman has twice been pulled over on suspicion of speeding and ticketed once. He’s also appeared in photos at a gun maker that were published online and he helped members of a family from their vehicle following a car wreck.

Monday’s dispute involving the Zimmermans isn’t uncommon for a couple in the midst of a divorce, said his attorney, Mark O’Mara, who led the defense team that secured the jury’s not-guilty verdict. He said Zimmerman never threatened anyone with a gun and never punched his father-in-law.

Shellie Zimmerman had collected most of her belongings from the house where both she and her husband had been staying until she moved out. But she returned unexpectedly Monday to gather the remaining items and emotions got out of control, O’Mara said. Police talked to everyone about what happened but neither side is pressing charges and no one was arrested.

“I know the 9-1-1 tape suggests that Shellie was saying something but I think that was heightened emotions,” O’Mara said. “There may have been some pushing and touching. That happens a lot in divorce situations. … Nobody was injured.”

Shellie Zimmerman’s father also declined to press charges, the police chief said. George Zimmerman’s brother Robert Zimmerman Jr. tweeted, after media reports surfaced about the dispute, that “we’ve learned from GZ case not to ‘jump to conclusions,’ to wait for facts,  to avoid speculation. ‘News’ is a business — not your friend.”

Prosecutors, though, could still build a case based on surveillance video from cameras outside the house and also video from the squad cars of officers who responded. Florida law allows police officers to arrest someone for domestic violence without the consent of the victim.

But, for the time being, “domestic violence can’t be invoked because she has changed her story and says she didn’t see a firearm,” Bracknell said.

Shellie Zimmerman, 26, in her divorce filing, said she and her husband separated a month after he was acquitted. She has asked that her husband pay for a permanent life insurance policy naming her as the beneficiary. In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America that aired Friday, Shellie Zimmerman said of her husband: “I have a selfish husband and I think George is all about George.” She also said her 29-year-old husband is reckless and feels invincible.

Shellie Zimmerman, who was convicted of perjury last month for lying about the couple’s finances at her husband’s bail hearing, initially told a 9-1-1 dispatcher Monday that her husband had his hand on his gun as he sat in his car outside the home.

On the 9-1-1 call, Shellie Zimmerman is sobbing and repeating, “Oh my God,” as she talks to a police dispatcher. She yells at her father to get inside the house, saying Zimmerman may start shooting at them.

“He’s threatening all of us with a firearm … He punched my dad in the nose,” Shellie Zimmerman said on the call. “I don’t know what he’s capable of. I’m really scared.” She also alleged that George Zimmerman had grabbed an iPad from her hand and smashed it. “We didn’t find a gun,” Lake Mary police spokesman Zach Hudson said late Monday night. “We didn’t find anything that indicated he had a gun on his person.”

“She basically said he made a movement that would be consistent with a movement someone would make if they had a gun,” Hudson added.

Hudson said Zimmerman was released from investigative detention around 6:30 p.m. and “he just walked back into the house.”

Since his July 13 acquittal, Zimmerman has gotten a speeding ticket in Florida and was pulled over on suspicion of speeding on a highway near Dallas, Texas, but not cited. Forney

police stopped Zimmerman as he drove west on U.S. 80, about 20 miles east of Dallas. A police dashcam video released July 31 shows an officer interacting with Zimmerman and letting him go with a warning.

The officer’s comments indicated Zimmerman had a gun, though a weapon can’t be seen in the video and it’s not clear that he had one.

Just days after his acquittal, Zimmerman made news when he was credited by police and others for helping a couple and their two children after their SUV flipped over on a Florida highway. After the reports emerged, O’Mara had to fend off comments that it was somehow staged.

At the time, O’Mara said, Zimmerman was still getting threats and was concerned about his safety. When asked if Zimmerman was still carrying a concealed weapon, O’Mara answered, “Yes, he’s protecting himself.”

Weeks later, he appeared smiling with an employee at the gun manufacturer Kel-Tec, the same brand of pistol he used to shoot Trayvon during their February 2012 confrontation in Sanford. Zimmerman said he acted in self-defense when he killed the Miami Gardens teenager and the polarizing case, including an initial delay in charging Zimmerman, opened up national discussions on self-defense laws and race.

Zimmerman has been involved with a domestic case at least once before. In 2005, Zimmerman’s former fiancee filed for a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence. He responded by requesting a restraining order against her.

Hudson said Zimmerman is free to do whatever he wants but suspects he will not be staying at the same house, given the recent publicity. Said Hudson: “When you’re trying to keep things quiet, it’s good to keep a low profile.”

Mike Schneider reported from Orlando.