Didn't see this in a search. This happened yesterday at 7am one mile from my house. The Chief of Police in Chandler was appointed just last month.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/may/02/gunmanslainby-police/
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/may/02/gunmanslainby-police/
CHANDLER, Ind. — A 34-year-old son of a police officer was injured fatally Thursday when he shot at authorities and was hit by return fire, law enforcement officials said.
Bryan Williams reportedly opened the door of his North Side house just as officers arrived to investigate a domestic dispute and fired a 12-gauge shotgun once at Chandler Police Chief Marlin Weisheit.
Weisheit
The single shot — a deer slug — narrowly missed Weisheit's body, but hit his holster and destroyed his gun. Weisheit, who was treated and released for minor injuries from the impact, fell to the ground as officer Eric Morris fired back at Williams.
Williams died from blood loss caused by six gunshot wounds about an hour and 15 minutes later, shortly after arriving at St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville.
"It's just a typical domestic call like we go on every day — it just turned bad," Weisheit said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. "Things like that aren't supposed to happen here in Chandler."
Though he hadn't seen Williams in years, Weisheit had a connection with the man who shot at him.
Weisheit worked for more than a decade with Williams' father, Howard "Tiger" Williams, at the Warrick County Sheriff's Department and calls the elder Williams a "good friend."
Howard Williams stopped at the scene of the shooting, 814 N. Illinois St., after hearing it on the radio and recognizing the address on his way to the Newburgh Police Department, where he serves as assistant chief.
He offered support to Weisheit and Morris, even as he grieved his son's death.
'Worst news'
"It's the worst news a person can get — I don't think there's any parent who wants to see their children die before them," Howard Williams said. "... I'm dealing with two families. One, my personal family. And the other, my law enforcement family. I'm so thankful none of them got hurt."
Howard Williams said he last spoke with his son several days ago and there were no apparent signs of problems.
He said life appeared to be going well for him: Williams was married, was helping to raise his wife's grandchildren and had a good job working in a coal mine in Vincennes, Ind.
The family, including Williams' 15-year-old daughter, was not handling his death well and was at a loss for answers as to why their loved one did what he did, Howard Williams said.
As a law officer himself, Howard Williams said he has no resentment toward Morris.
"I talked to him. I understand what he did and why he had to do it," Howard Williams said. "Believe me, I'll never have hard feelings. He did his job. I'm so thankful Eric was able to be there."
He almost wasn't.
The call came in around 7 a.m., which is shift change for the small Chandler department. If it had been just a few minutes later, Weisheit would have been the only officer there.
But Morris was just finishing up a quiet night of duty and stayed on to work backup on the domestic run.
Weisheit said he believes that likely saved his life — since the bullet destroyed his gun, he had no means of defense against further shotgun blasts — and possibly the lives of Williams' wife and two teenage relatives at the scene.
"It was just one of those things where the timing was right," Weisheit said. "... When you think of what it could have been, we're all so fortunate. We're counting our blessings."
The Warrick County Sheriff's Department and Indiana State Police are handling the follow-up investigation, which Weisheit said should shed some light on Williams' mindset and motive leading up to the shooting. An autopsy was completed Thursday, though it will take several weeks to determine if drugs or alcohol were present in Williams' system.
Morris will spend a couple of days off-duty, Weisheit said, and he will receive counseling to help him deal with the trauma of the incident.
Despite his minor injuries — and grappling with how they could have been major ones — Weisheit was back at work Thursday afternoon and vowed to be there again early this morning, "more determined than ever."
He is still relatively new to the Chandler force after being hired in mid-March.
This, the first time in Weisheit's law enforcement career he has ever been shot at, doesn't dampen his enthusiasm for the post, he said.
Instead, escaping with only minor injuries left Weisheit a little stiff, a little sore, but very thankful. The deer slug likely would have caused significant injury if it had hit him.
"To get shot with a shotgun at close range and not take any serious injuries and be able to walk away from it, I was a pretty fortunate guy," Weisheit said. "I told everybody I was probably the luckiest guy in Chandler today."
Williams did not have an extensive criminal history in Warrick County, although he did have some recent arrests. One was on a charge of driving under the influence in 2005 and another on charges of pointing a firearm, criminal recklessness and public intoxication in 2006. Warrick County Sheriff Marvin Heilman said he did not know if Williams was ever convicted.
