Internal investigation finds Fayetteville police officer’s shooting was justified | News Brief
News, News Brief — By Christopher Spencer on December 7, 2009 at 5:43 PMInvestigators concluded today that Det. David Williams’ killing of robbery suspect Matthew Anderson was justified.
Williams was among the police officers who arrived at Arvest Bank, 1113 N. Garland Ave. on Wednesday, Dec. 2 when Anderson was at the bank. He fired three times at Anderson, killing him.
Anderson was in a white car in the bank’s drive through when he presented a note to a bank employee demanding money, according to a police press release. The note implied accomplices were present watching the bank’s entrances and that if the robbery demands were not met, the employees “were in for a painful experience.”
When police arrived, Anderson nearly struck two officers as he backed away in his car. Anderson then rammed a vehicle occupied by an innocent bystander several times in an effort to escape, police said.
Williams fired his service weapon a total of three times at the suspect to stop the threat. No officers were injured during the altercation, according to the police press release.
The department’s policy on use of deadly force states an officer may use deadly force to protect him or others if he has reasonable belief of immediate threat of death or serious physical injury. Williams, as well as other officers present, felt that the potential threat to them and others present called for the use of deadly force to end that threat, police said.
The internal investigation has revealed no policy violation occurred and exonerated Williams in his use of deadly force in this incident. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its independent investigation of this incident, the reports of which will be forwarded to Washington County Circuit Prosecutor John Threet for review, police said.
SIMILAR POSTS
- UPDATED (12.4.09) Fayetteville police officer kills man suspected of Arvest bank robbery | Press Release at 11:10 PM on December 2, 2009
- Bullet shot by Fayetteville police struck stabbing victim, contributed to death at 6:22 PM on June 29, 2009
- Fayetteville Police: Officers had no option but to fire at 11:16 AM on July 1, 2009
- Fayetteville police arrest Charles T. Nation on attempted murder charge | Press Release at 4:03 PM on November 18, 2009
- Update: Aristero Chavez of Rogers faces capital murder charges after shooting victim dies Thursday | Press Release at 2:47 PM on November 25, 2009
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2 Comments
This is great news. Williams is an outstanding officer and he did what was necessary to end a deadly threat. We are all in his debt. This is a very difficult thing for an officer to go through and I’m hoping he recovers quickly.
I cannot imagine what he and his family are going through. He does a job few of us would be willing to do and does it to protect me and mine. I agree, we are hugely in his debt and the debt of all our police officers. I would add firefighters, soldiers, teachers and a few other professions to that list. So yeah, thank you, Officer Williams.