CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Stephen Mader was fired from the Weirton Police Department for not immediately shooting a man who had a gun, according to a lawyer for the family of the man, who was shot and killed by a different Weirton officer.
Ronald “R.J.” Williams, of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed on May 6 by a Weirton officer whose name has not been made public.
Three Weirton officers were at the scene when Williams was shot in the back of the head, according to a report written by a West Virginia State Police trooper who investigated the shooting. But neither the Hancock County prosecutor nor the State Police report, identifies them.
Wayne County lawyer Jack Dolance, who was hired by the Williams family and the director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, have criticized the prosecutor and Weirton police chief’s refusal to release the names of the officers.
At a press conference after Williams’ death, Hancock Prosecuting Attorney Jim Davis said that the three officers had returned to work and done nothing wrong.
Mader contacted Dolance, however, and said that he had been fired, the lawyer said. The letter that Mader received from the city, said that Mader had put his two colleagues in danger by not “taking quick and decisive action” with Williams, said Dolance.
Weirton police and prosecutors held a news conference Tuesday in response to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article Sunday in which Mader gave an interview about being terminated.
Travis Blosser, the city manager, said Tuesday, according to a WTOV broadcast of the news conference, that Mader had escalated the situation with Williams.
Mader, 25, who joined the Weirton force after being deployed to Afghanistan as a Marine, was the first officer to encounter Williams, 23, outside the home Williams previously shared with his ex-girlfriend.
Mader told the Post-Gazette that Williams had a gun, but wasn’t pointing it at him. He couldn’t immediately be reached Tuesday.
“I told him, ‘Put down the gun,’ and he’s like, ‘Just shoot me.’ And I told him, ‘I’m not going to shoot you brother.’ Then he starts flicking his wrist to get me to react to it.
“I thought I was going to be able to talk to him and deescalate it. I knew it was a suicide-by-cop” situation, Mader told the newspaper.
When Mader arrived, from his police cruiser, he asked Williams, “Where is 119 Marie Ave.?”
“It’s right here,” Williams answered. He was outside, standing by his car, according to the report. “Why, what’s up?”
The officer, Mader, notified dispatchers that he was on scene at 2:57 a.m. They told him to watch out for a weapon.
Two more Weirton officers arrived in separate cruisers at about the same time.
“Shots fired,” the second officer to arrive radioed to 911, a minute later, at 2:58 a.m.
None of the dashboard cameras in the three police cruisers at the scene were recording at the time of the shooting. State Police Sgt. R. J. Gibson wrote in his report that none of the officers felt the need to activate the flashing lights on their vehicles on the way to the scene. Turning those lights on starts a recording.
Gibson, who is based in Hancock County, wrote that the shooting “while tragic was lawful.” Williams was pointing a gun at officers when he was shot, the trooper wrote.
Mader also told the Pittsburgh newspaper that he didn’t think his fellow officer was wrong to shoot Williams.
Mader “had one of the most nerve-racking jobs overseas. He’s obviously very cool under pressure,” Dolance said Tuesday, adding Mader had been a handler for bomb-sniffing dogs.
There should be a review of the Weirton Police Department’s training and policies, Dolance said.
Reach Kate White at [email protected], 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.
