[chris]

A predawn gathering at a Roanoke, Texas hotel pool ended with a woman shot to death by her own brother, who had picked up a sheriff's deputy's revolver, authorities said.

The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. on May 18, 2008, at the Best Western Inn and Suites, where several family members had been relaxing by the pool, according to police. Chester Cunningham, 24, a sheriff's deputy, had tucked his revolver into a pair of pants he set on a table before getting into the water, officials said. Aric McGowan, 24, picked up the gun and fired once, striking his sister, Keli Atkins, 32, of Sweetwater, in the chest.

Atkins was flown by helicopter to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where she died about an hour later. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office ruled her death a homicide.

On the 911 call, a dispatcher can be heard noting that McGowan was drunk. McGowan is heard cursing and yelling in the background, asking why a real gun had been left beside the pool, according to a recording of the call.

Atkins' three children, ages 3, 10 and 12, were asleep in an upstairs room at the hotel at the time of the shooting and were not hurt, police said.

McGowan was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and released the same day after posting $25,000 bond, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.