NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Country singer Trace Adkins said he has forgiven his former wife, Julie Curtis, for shooting and nearly killing him during a domestic dispute in 1994.
Adkins, 64, discussed the shooting on episode 672 of Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, which appeared on July 28. He said Curtis had apologised and that he did not believe she intended to kill him.
“I just don’t think she thought it was gonna hurt me,” Adkins said. “She thought I was indestructible,” according to People.
Adkins said Curtis wanted him to leave during an argument, but he refused. According to his account, she fired as he reached towards the gun and told her to hand it over.
The bullet entered beneath his left arm, passed through his heart and lungs and exited beneath his right arm. Adkins described the wound as a “kill shot” during the podcast interview.
Read: Two shot dead in a Michigan university over a domestic dispute, suspect at large
A LifeFlight crew took him to Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville. Doctors performed emergency open-heart surgery after the shooting.
Adkins said the bullet passed through his body without expanding because Curtis fired at close range. However, the podcast did not provide an independent medical assessment of that explanation.
Read: Prof. Feroza Jameel’s Murder: Husband Hires Hitman Over Marriage Dispute
The singer declined to press charges, and the couple divorced later in 1994. He previously described the dispute and his struggle with alcohol in his 2007 autobiography, “A Personal Stand.”
Adkins launched his mainstream recording career with the 1996 debut album “Dreamin’ Out Loud.” He married actor Victoria Pratt in 2019.
