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Police chief’s wife charged for shooting at officers

OCEANSIDE — Brinda McCoy, 47, the wife of Oceanside’s police chief, faces 58 years in prison if convicted of shooting a loaded gun at police officers who came to her aid after she called 9-1-1 for help at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at her house in Cypress, Calif.
A standoff was initiated by McCoy after officers from the Cypress Police Department responded to the call and tried to get her to leave her residence, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege that McCoy refused to leave her house, pointed a gun at her own head and then at the ceiling before pointing it directly at police officers who were outside.
McCoy is accused of ignoring the warnings from authorities to not fire her weapon, before firing a semi-automatic gun twice at police who were positioned behind two parked cars outside of her residence.
The Special Weapons and Tactics team stopped McCoy by using a bean bag gun, according to the district attorney’s office.
McCoy was initially held on $250,000 bail, but according to the San Diego Union Tribune she was released Dec. 22.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Olivieri, of the Orange County District Attorney’s office, is prosecuting the case.
McCoy is charged with five felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic weapon on a peace officer and two other felony counts of firing a gun with gross negligence.
She is also charged with sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm, according to prosecutors.
No details are being released yet about why McCoy called police for help, according to Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the DA’s office in Orange County.
As of Dec. 27, Emami said an arraignment date for McCoy had not yet been scheduled.
Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy has been police chief for Oceanside since January 2006, and is a former mayor of Cypress.
He and Brinda McCoy have five children, according to the police department’s Web site.
Chief McCoy was unable to be reached for comment and is on vacation until after the beginning of next year, according to the Oceanside Police Department.