Weirton police officer Stephen Mader would seem the very model of courage after he confronted an armed man and, rather than just shooting him (which seems all too common today), he engaged Ronald D. Williams Jr., (shown left) in conversation to try to get him to drop the gun. He said the gun was not pointed at him and was by his side (it turned out to a unloaded and he believed it was a case of “suicide by cop”). He was speaking to the man when two other officers arrived and shot and killed the man. Mader was then fired. Why? Weirton Police Chief Rob Alexander and his colleagues believe Mader should have just killed the man and been done with it.
As Radley Balko noted, we are so used to police just shooting people, Mader seemed a refreshing, if not inspiring, example of restraint. It was an example that Alexander did not want repeated.
The incident occurred on May 6th in Weirton, West Virginia, after a call from William’s girlfriend. She told police in the call that Williams was threatening to kill himself, not others. Mader (a former Marine) said that his training told him that the man could be engaged and potentially disarmed. He spoke to him calmly about dropping the weapon while positioning himself behind a car. The man told him “Just shoot me” and Mader was convinced he was just trying to commit suicide. He told him “I’m not going to shoot you brother.” The man would flick his wrist to try to get him to shoot but Mader kept behind the car and speaking with him. Then he starts flicking his wrist to get me to react to it.
It turns out that Mader was right. The gun was unloaded and, as William’s girlfriend said, he was trying to commit suicide. Alexander fired Mader for putting the other officers at risk by not immediately gunning down Williams and that he had “failed to eliminate a threat.”
We we have seen in other cases of elderly or disoriented individuals. This has included cases of police shootings with people “walking with a purpose” or holding a small screwdriver or holding a toy truck or reaching for a cane or other items. Here is an officer who correctly sized up the situation as a suicide by cop and tried to save a life.
The question is whether the people will stand for this. It is Chief Alexander who should be looking for new employment not this former Marine who grew up in Weirton, served in Afghanistan, and has two young boys to raise. What Mader has is guts and integrity. When those boys grow up, they will know that their Dad put everything on the line “to serve and protect.”
Have any of you know-it-alls ever walked in any of those peoples shoes??
Me neither!
I don’t think we are qualified to be capable of judging them.
So Bam Bam, you are a member of that first group. You illustrate my points perfectly: simplicity, cut and dry, an absolute solution for a problem. There’s a lot of that going on in this country, on the decline though.
I’m not quite sure to which imaginary group you wish to assign me; however, if you wish to include me in the group that truly appreciates and respects the often impossible tasks and duties that we demand of our police officers, on a daily basis, then count me in. If you wish to lump me with those who understand and comprehend the often instantaneous decisions required of our men and women in blue, whereby we expect these trained professionals to keep the rest of us cowards safe from harm, by all means, include me in that group.
Just how long does this individual have to continuously flick his hand and/or wrist, with what appears to be a loaded gun, before he is taken down? One minute? One hour? When would you have been satisfied that all methods to disarm him had been satisfied? Let me answer that: NEVER. There would never have been enough time allotted to neutralize the danger posed by this individual until and unless others had been killed, and, even then, many of you would still demonize those who had no other choice but to kill the lunatic. Sounds a lot like the nuts who criticized the police in Texas,
who finally resorted to sending in a robot to kill the madman murdering police officers. That’s your group. Not my group. The lie, that police are trigger-happy, is just that–a lie. No matter how you spin it, it never becomes the truth. The truth is that life or death decisions must be made by these professionals, and we sit back and ponder what else could’ve been done. We’re not happy with the results, but the majority of us are to inept or incompetent to perform these duties, ourselves, and would fail miserably under the constant stress and strain foisted upon these officers. We expect that these officers follow their training, yet, when they do–reacting precisely as they have been instructed when an individual is flicking around a gun–we want to string them up from the highest tree. Yes, the country is on the decline, but it is on the decline for a different reason than that which you assume to be the truth.
bam bam,
This is not about Monday morning quarterbacks second guessing the cops who killed. That formula just doesn’t work here.
This is about a cop who was on the scene; who read the actual situation, accurately; and who was fired by the Monday morning quarterbacks despite having been 100% correct.
This is about Johnny Unitas getting benched because he made the Monday Morning Quarterbacks’ fantasy football team look bad.
I hope the officer appeals this decision.
I have always thought the first officer on the scene has a better take than anyone after him, so should be in charge. In this case, it should have been the first officer’s call to take the shot or for a shot to be taken. He had the best feel for the incident.
I think the Chief was upset he had 3 officers not writing parking tickets. The needed to kill the citizen and get back to their primary job of writing tickets.
I think there are about 35,000 people in and around Weirton. If Weirton’s ordinary in this respect, it has about 1 police killing every 20 years.
After all is said and done, the only error was the chief’s and the administration’s lie. Although, it could have been an effort to give him “cover”. It’s easier to seek a job with “resigned” on your resume. But, it was badly handled by the authorities involved.
However, all due credit to a man trained to kill, and after serving as a Marine in a combat zone, had the presence of mind to seek another outcome, tried to save a life. On the other hand, this Marine also lived under rules of engagement which required a person to think rather than “run and gun”. He may well have a deeper appreciation of what it means to kill another, up front and personal. His conscience is clear.
His honesty and integrity will serve him well in the future.
Semper Fi, Marine
Colonel Trautman has a friendly chat with hick town sheriff…..What makes someone blow a gasket?
When gun ownership is ubiquitous, police have little choice but to assume that anyone who might have a loaded gun, probably does have a loaded gun.
Let’s get this straight–
A call comes in, reporting that a man is threatening to kill himself, and the individual is encountered, by an officer, with a gun, by his side. We are to believe that the officer was, indeed, correct in assuming that the gun was unloaded? How insane is that! Yes, of course, try to get him to drop the gun, but for how long? How many innocent lives must be placed in danger and jeopardy before he is simply taken out? Love all of you Monday-morning quarterbacks, who now, with the benefit of KNOWING, BEYOND A DOUBT, that the armed lunatic posed no danger to others, criticize the actions of the arriving officers. Had the disturbed man actually been armed with a loaded firearm AND shot and killed other innocent people, all of you, who are now praising the officer for his show of restraint, would be calling for his scalp. I can hear it now–what was he waiting for? Why didn’t he neutralize the threat to the community? Why did x number of people have to die because of this officer’s failure to act according to his training?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
I agree, except many of the same people who are praising the officer for not shooting would still expect the officer to have found another way.
With a loaded handgun, the difference between a flick of the wrist and shooting an intended target is less than a second. – While having a firearm in hand, I think, does not justify shooting, the flick of the wrist does.
It’s not clear that the officer knew or even thought the gun might be unloaded. It’s not clear that Williams was threatening others – were there even other people in the line of fire? Was Williams moving out of the immediate area and potentially encountering other people who would have been put in danger? Officer Mader appears to have had reasonable cover and wasn’t standing out in the open.
Changing any of these factors would sway me the other direction, but I think Officer Mader made the right decisions given what we see here.
bam bam,
This is not about Monday morning quarterbacks second guessing the cops who killed. That formula just doesn’t work here.
This is about a cop who was on the scene; who read the actual situation, accurately; and who was fired by the Monday morning quarterbacks despite having been 100% correct.
This is about Johnny Unitas getting benched because he made the Monday Morning Quarterbacks’ fantasy football team look bad.
(oops, missed the “Reply” button first time)
Police deaths in the line of duty are at a low not seen since the 1950s, while citizen deaths at the hands of police continue to rise. It’s time to put a stop to this crap.
https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2015/09/PerryAEI.jpg
I grew up in Weirton, WV, my parents lived there for 60 years before their passing away, a cousin of mine was a police officer in Weirton, I attended my 50th year high school reunion there last year, and I traveled back to Weirton many times through the years to visit my parents. It was and still is a town of friendly people of all races and ethnic backgrounds. Police officer Mader represents the good in that town and its people and the police chief represents a complete A-hole.
Wow! Well, better to be fired than spend the rest of your life with the burden of killing an innocent man with mental issues. I can’t imagine this firing will stand?
I hope the people of Weirton consider forcing their police department to not only reinstate Officer Mader, but to also make him Chief. He has more sense than their current Chief.
That poor man!
” It is Chief Alexander who should be looking for new employment”
Making license plates in prison?
Both Williams and Nader, I should say, as well as their families.
Mader. Stupid autocorrect.
I’d be interested in Darren’s perspective. It seems to be a clear case of a cop with respect for human life, and one who is thinking outside the boxed protocol.
What Nick said. What BettyKath said.
I find this story so distressing I have no words.
Wrong cop was fired. It should be the chief.
Agree!
Agree.
This seems to identify and illustrate those two poles in our society. There is the one perspective that is based on simplicity, the established cut and dry, the absolute for the absolute. Then there is the other that explores the human potential, asks for a better way, and understands that life is composed of the varying and ever evolving degrees between the two extremes. This officer was of the second perspective, a person truly interested in serving his fellow man. The Captain is of the first perspective, no questions, no point, just shoot the guy. It is one thing when a police officer caves during an exasperating situation and fires. It is a disarming other when it becomes protocol. The Captain should be relieved of his job and if he is lucky placed back out on the street with this officer in charge.
Good column.
It seems that cops are get more rather than less trigger happy in spite of all the adverse publicity that they are getting.
No, it doesn’t. The number of police killings has been stable for four decades, in spite of increasing population.
This is a good example of the mindset good cops deal w/ on a daily basis.
On a daily basis? A typical metropolitan region has 1 or 2 police killings per year. Where I grew up, there are six local police departments in the metropolis, a number quite unremarkable for a metropolis that size. A given department might expect to see 2 police killings in a decade.