A retired New York Police Department sergeant was fatally shot in a confrontation with his wife inside their Howard Beach home, police said Monday.

Raymond Sheehan, 49, was shot at least once between 11:30 a.m. and noon Monday, police said, according to the New Times. However, the police were not notified until 12:52.

According to police report, Barbara Sheehan shot her husband with a gun that belonged to him. Investigators questioned Ms Sheehan at the 106th Precinct station house in neighboring Ozone Park. After the interrogatory, they charged her with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Then she was taken to a hospital following a report of chest pain.

Mr. Sheehan, who retired in April 2002, was with the NYPD’s Crime Scene Unit and was part of the recovery effort at the Staten Island landfill following the September 11 terror attack.

The couple’s two children, a son and a daughter, both believed to be away at school, were not home at the time, police said. They also said that an ongoing domestic dispute might have led to the shooting.

According to Ms. Sheehan’s family, her husband broke her nose in a Sunday brawl. Therefore, she decided she had enough.

“There were all these times when she would come back here with a black eye or a cut on the head. She would cover for him and say she fell. All the women who were being abused r have been abused should speak before they get to the point where it’s a disaster. Just last night she was abused,” Barbara’s dad, Michael Henry told the New York Daily News.

Neighbors also say Barbara was recently seen in church with bruises on her face.

“I heard that she was abused for years. But when I saw them, always together, they were very religious. What would cause a woman to do that?” said neighbor Linda Giarrizzo.

Investigators are still looking into what led to the shooting.