'Quiet' man's death shocks neighbors

REELSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - Neighbors in a small Putnam County community are trying to understand the shooting death of 38-year-old Bill Williams.

Three police officers shot and killed Williams in his Reelsville home late last night. Police said Williams tried to attack some officers.

"My husband came in and said, 'Jane, Billy is dead,'" recalled next door neighber Jane Roose. "'What?' I said. 'What happened?' He said, 'Just get up.'"

The confusion she felt Sunday night when she heard her friend was dead hasn't left her.

" I just, I don't understand. it's just really devastating," she said. "I know I will miss him very, very, much."

A 911 call regarding a domestic dispute brought police to the home Sunday night. According to police, when officers arrived, they found Williams locked inside a bathroom. They said he was trying to kill himself.

When officers unlocked the door, police said, Williams ran toward them carrying a large knife in each hand. Two officers - Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Jon Chadd and Cloverdale Officer Charles Hallam - fired their stun guns, but Williams kept moving. Police said when Williams knocked an officer to the floor, three others - Indiana State Police Trooper Brian Thomas, Indiana Conservation Officer Patrick Labhart and Hallam - shot and killed him.

An autopsy Monday determined two gunshot wounds to the upper torso caused Williams' death, Putnam County Coroner Thomas Miller said. He was shot four times altogether.

“I don't know what could have happened,” Roose said. “I mean if Bill attacked anyone, that's not Bill. That's not the Bill I know.”

Roose said she’s known Williams for 13 years, and she described him as a quiet man who kept mostly to himself. She said he was very helpful and would plow their street whenever it snowed. He also helped neighbors fix their vehicles, she said.

Neighbors said the father of two had recently divorced. His oldest son is in college. The younger son, who was at a friend's house at the time of the shooting, is 16 and in high school.

Indiana State Police are investigating the incident, and said that could continue for several weeks. All indications, ISP said in a news release Monday night, are that the involved officers acted appropriately based on the life-threatening circumstances they were faced with.

Thomas, the ISP officer involved, has been with ISP for 10 months. He is on administrative duty, ISP said, as is standard procedure during officer-involved shootings.