Ky. Officers Killed Man Who Overpowered Them, Police Say

Nov. 22, 2011
A man who was shot and killed in an incident with two Shelbyville police officers on Saturday was not subdued by their use of tasers, officers say.

Nov. 22--A man who was shot and killed in an incident with two Shelbyville police officers on Saturday had attacked and overpowered them, even though the officers used tasers on him numerous times.

The man, previously identified as Trey Williams, 18, of Shelbyville, used objects inside the home he had broken into to attack the officers, leaving one of them "injured and incapacitated, unable to defend himself from continued physical assault," according to a news release from state police.

In order to stop Williams, the other officer "utilized deadly force."

The officers had previously been identified as Suzanne Marcum, a 17-year veteran of the Shelbyville Police Department, and Frank Willoughby, who has worked for the department for six years.

State police said that Shelbyville dispatchers received a call on Saturday afternoon about a man wearing shorts with no shirt or shoes walking on Midland Trail holding a pipe and a book. A caller said the man had hit a vehicle's windshield with the pipe and then run away. A later call reported that a man fitting that description had broken out the window of a home on Clifton Court.

A property maintenance worker helped them get inside the residence. They repeatedly identified themselves, and, after entering, located the man armed with the pipe, who was "deranged" and "refused to follow any of the officers' commands."

The officers used their tasers on the man but the effect was "very limited," and the man was able to hit both officers several times with objects, incapacitating one of them before the other shot him "in order to stop the assault against the incapacitated officer," the news release stated.

The officers were taken to Jewish Hospital in Shelbyville after the incident. Williams was also taken to Jewish Hospital, where he died.

State police are continuing to investigate, according to the release.

Copyright 2011 - The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

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