Putnam County—Indiana State Police Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators from the Putnamville Post continue to investigate a fatal police action shooting that occurred Sunday evening, January 15th at 11152 South County Road 300 West, Reelsville. William E. Williams was fatally shot by officers as he aggressively attacked them with two large butcher type knives, one in each hand.

An autopsy was performed this afternoon by Pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr at Terre Haute Regional Hospital. Putnam County Coroner Thomas Miller has listed the cause of death as two gunshot wounds to the upper torso. The victim received a total of four gunshot wounds.

The five original officers at the scene were Indiana State Police Trooper Brian Thomas, Indiana Conservation Officers Patrick Labhart and Chris Springstone, Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Jon Chadd and Cloverdale Police Officer Charles Hallam. The officers who initially deployed “taser” electronic control devices were Deputy Jon Chadd and Officer Charles Hallam. The officers who discharged their firearms at the suspect were Trooper Brian Thomas, Indiana Conservation Officer Patrick Labhart, and Officer Charles Hallam. The investigation is ongoing and the number of rounds fired by each officer is undisclosed at this time; however, they are minimal in number.

Trooper Brian Thomas is a 10 month veteran of the Indiana State Police Department assigned to the Putnamville District to patrol Putnam County. Thomas is currently on administrative duty which is standard ISP procedure in officer related shootings.  All indications are that the involved officers acted appropriately based on the life threatening circumstances they were faced with while responding to the domestic disturbance.

Questions concerning the Indiana Conservation Officers should be directed to Conservation Officer Lieutenant Bill Browne at 765-509-0207 or wbrowne@dnr.in.gov. Questions concerning Putnam County Sergeant Jon Chadd should be directed to Putnam County Sheriff, Steve Fenwick at 765-653-5115. Questions concerning Cloverdale Officer Charles Hallam should be directed to Cloverdale Police Chief Jon Chadd 765-795-6800.

The investigation is ongoing and is expected to take several weeks to complete. At the conclusion of the investigation it will be submitted to the Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office for review. The 911 call is considered evidence and will not be released.

While Mr. Williams’ actions resulted in the loss of his life, the Indiana State police, and the other involved departments, extend condolences and ask the community to keep the Williams family in their thoughts and prayers.  The taking of a life in performance of duty is a possibility each law enforcement officer may encounter in their career when faced with preserving their life or the life of another person.