"Quiet man" fatally shot at home by Ind. police

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

Reelsville, Ind. residence of Bill Williams, 38, who was fatally shot by police inside his home on Sunday night, Jan. 15, 2012

/ WISH-TV

(CBS) REELSVILLE, Ind. - Residents of a central Indiana community are trying to understand the shooting death of 38-year-old Bill Williams, who was killed by police late Sunday night.

Police say Williams tried to attack some officers, who were called to his Reelsville home about a domestic dispute, reports CBS affiliate WISH.

Williams lived with his two sons, one a college student, the other in high school.

Officers were called to his home Sunday night, and say they arrived to find him locked inside a bathroom. Police say he was trying to kill himself, WISH reported.

When officers unlocked the door, police say Williams ran towards them with two knives in his hands. Two officers fired their stun guns which failed to stop Williams.

He knocked an officer to the floor prompting three others to open fire, police said.

According to WISH, Williams died at the scene. Indiana State Police are investigating.

"I don't know what could have happened," Williams' neighbor Jane Roose said, "I mean if Bill attacked anyone, that's not Bill. That's not the Bill I know."

Roose says she's known Williams for 13 years. She describes him as a quiet man and a very helpful neighbor, who would plow their street whenever it snowed.

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by kolbysgamma January 17, 2012 10:09 AM EST: This is a sad story. But he was locked in the bathroom trying to kill himself. Ever heard of "suicide by cop"?; Reply to this comment


by amerilatino January 17, 2012 9:07 AM EST: A clean cop is a cop being watched. Cops possess no higher moral self-standards and smarts than the average Joe, so that to assume that a cop will ALWAYS do the right or most intelligent thing when unsupervised is ludicrous, naive and unnecessary given the current state of audio-video recording technology, plus recording a cop's interventions will protect the honest ones when perps try to make stuff up to get them in trouble.; Reply to this comment


by js2212 January 16, 2012 8:40 PM EST: omni, I would conclude that you're a cop-hater who sees evil in everything they do. As a typical cop-hater, you fail to note that he would be alive right now if he had done what he was told to do. He didn't. I think any reasonably intelligent adult can foresee what's likely going to happen if they are given orders by the cops at gunpoint and refuse to comply. They also tried stun guns, with no effect.; Reply to this comment


by omnibus66 January 16, 2012 6:34 PM EST: The cops were the only witnesses. No one to challenge their unbelievable story. Draw your own conclusions.; Reply to this comment