Did George Zimmerman Lie To The Police?

BY JUDD LEGUM/Think Progress

On Monday, George Zimmerman’s wife called 911 to report that he was threatening her and her father with a gun. Shellie Zimmerman told the 911 operator that her husband “continually has his hand on his gun and he keeps saying step closer and he is just threatening all of us.” When the police arrived, she abruptly changed her story and claimed she never saw a gun. Officer Zach Hudson, the Lake Mary Police Department public information officer, told the New York Times that Zimmerman told the police he was not carrying a gun:

“No one ever saw a gun,” said Officer Zach Hudson of the Lake Mary police. “He said he has no gun on him and we haven’t found a gun. I think she assumed that he had one on his person.”

ABC News also reported, “A Lake Mary police official later said Zimmerman did not have a gun, officers never found a gun and that Zimmerman himself said he never had a gun on him.”

But George Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in no uncertain terms that Zimmerman was carrying a gun and had it on his person during the confrontation with his wife and father-in-law:

O’MARA: He acted appropriately. He never took the weapon out. The only thing he really did, which is what he told the police, was on the outside of his shirt, he made sure the gun wasn’t moving anywhere and didn’t do anything because [Zimmerman's father-in-law] Mr. Dean was sort of coming at him, that can sort of be seen in the video.

COOPER: So he had the gun actually on his person not like, in the glove box of his car?

O’MARA: That’s correct.

O’Mara acknowledged “there are some reports that said he didn’t have a gun with him but he did.” He also admitted George Zimmerman smashed an iPad during the confrontation.

CNN’s Victor Blackwell reported that the police “did not check the car” because they didn’t have a warrant and it “wasn’t part of the crime scene.” Other reports indicate that, at some point, Police Chief Steve Bracknell became aware that there was a gun in Zimmerman’s truck, but they did not confiscate it. Shellie Zimmerman told the 911 operator that her husband was threatening her from his vehicle.

Bracknell told the LA Times, “Man, it would be fantastic if you have an apartment out there [in California] for George Zimmerman. This guy is killing me.”

Calls to Officer Hudson regarding Zimmerman’s comments to the police were not immediately returned.

UPDATE

Zimmerman allegedly smashed to pieces an iPad that has video of the confrontation. The police are trying to recover the footage:

UPDATE

The local police department says Zimmerman could face charges of evidence destruction if they connect him to the broken iPad: