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May 16, 2017

West Virginia: Former Cop Sues After Being Fired for Not Shooting Suicidal Man
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And in West Virginia, former police officer Stephen Mader is suing the
city of Weirton, after he says he was fired from the police department
for not shooting a suicidal young man. In May 2016, Officer Mader
arrived at the house of 23-year-old African American Ronald "R.J."
Williams Jr. after Williams's girlfriend called the police because he'd
threatened to hurt himself. Officer Mader says he found Williams holding
a handgun and acting suicidal. Mader says he was trying to de-escalate
the situation and was urging Williams to put down the gun, when two more
police officers arrived. One immediately opened fire, killing Williams.
The police later found Williams's gun was not loaded. Officer Mader says
one month later he was informed he would be fired for "apparent
difficulties in critical incident reasoning."


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