[MI] Officer-Involved Murder-Suicide: Detroit Detective Williams' note to give his possessions to his mother "wasn't quite a suicide note"?

Stolen by her husband's act of murder-suicide:
Detroit Police Officer

Patricia Catherine "Katie" Ryan Williams

...Friends said Patricia Williams was contemplating a divorce, and her husband had been distraught about it....

For more - including Katie obituaries with funeral information - go to the blog "Michigan Officer Involved Domestic Violence" - post: "OFFICER PATRICIA CATHERINE RYAN WILLIAMS [DETROIT PD] KILLED BY HUSBAND / OFFICER ED WILLIAMS"

Detroit Police Detective
Edward "Ed" Gordon Williams II

...Police knew the marriage between a Detroit homicide detective and his police officer wife may have been growing violent, particularly after finding a disturbing note written by Ed Williams after a report of domestic violence at the couple's Canton Township home... "It wasn't quite a suicide note, but it was a note indicating that he wanted his mother to have all his possessions if something happened to him" ...

Prayers are lifted for the families of Patricia and Ed Williams, their friends, co-workers, and Patricia's young son.


DETROIT POLICE OFFICER SHOOTS, KILLS WIFE THEN SELF IN PARKING LOT OF CANTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
By The Associated Press
September 22, 2009, 4:23PM
[Excerpts] An off-duty Detroit police officer fatally shot his wife, who was also a Detroit police officer, in the parking lot of a suburban library on Tuesday before killing himself, authorities said. Patricia Catherine Williams, 33, was pronounced dead upon arrival at an area hospital, while Edward Gordon Williams II, 36, died later Tuesday after he was taken off life support... [Full article here]

... An hour and a half after the note was found, Canton's shift commander called the Detroit Police Department to make them aware of the potentially violent situation brewing with Ed and Patricia Williams... "We told them about the domestic violence calls, and that we'd put (Ed Williams) into LEIN"... Detroit Police 2nd Deputy Chief John Roach said a homicide investigator contacted Ed Williams that day. "He indicated everything was all right, so we communicated that back to Canton, and they took him out of LEIN," Roach said. Two days later, tragedy struck...


POLICE: DETROIT COP SHOOTS WIFE, HIMSELF AT CANTON LIBRARY
The Detroit News
George Hunter, Christine Ferretti and Steve Pardo
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
[Excerpts] A Detroit Police officer was on her way to report a domestic dispute this morning when her husband, a Detroit homicide detective, fatally shot her in a library parking lot before turning the gun on himself, police said. At about 9 a.m., Ed Williams, 36, of Canton Township shot his wife, Patricia, who was an officer at Detroit's Northwest District, following an argument in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library... Patricia Williams died on her way to the hospital... Ed Williams was initially on life support, but police confirmed his death near 2:30 this afternoon. Canton police had responded to a domestic dispute at the couple's home this weekend... At about 8:30 this morning, a female friend called police to report that Patricia Williams was on her way into the Canton police station to report another domestic incident, [Canton Township Police Sgt. Mark] Gajeski said Ed Williams met his wife in the Canton Township parking lot and fired more than one shot at his wife for unknown reasons... Friends ... said Patricia was contemplating a divorce, and that her husband had been distraught about it. [Full article here]


Listen to the 9-1-1 calls HERE.

DETROIT COP KILLS WIFE, SELF (W/911 CALLS)
Listen to 911 calls
Detroit Free Press
By Tammy Stables Battaglia and Amber Hunt
September 22, 2009 - UPDATED 4 P.M.
CANTON - Police are trying to knit together a time line of what led Detroit Police Department homicide investigator Ed Williams to shoot and kill his wife, also an officer, then shoot himself in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library today... Canton police officers had responded to the couple's home for a domestic complaint over the weekend, [Canton Township Police Sgt. Mark] Gajeski said. And today, a male friend of Patricia Williams called Canton police around 8:30 a.m., reporting there had been another incident. The caller said Patricia Williams was on her way to the police department, Gajeski said. She never made it. Instead, she parked her silver late-model BMW a couple of spaces down from her husband's sleek black Dodge Charger with dark-tinted windows along the side of the library parking lot. “He called her, and he got her to come over to the library and talk to her... She went to talk to him, and that’s when the shooting started.” Patricia Williams ran, but her husband gunned her down, shooting her two more times as she lay in the parking lot, Gajeski said. Then he turned the gun on himself, a few parking spaces away... Detroit police spokesman John Roach said Patricia Williams, with the department since November 1995, was a patrol officer at the department's Northwest District who was on disability with a hand injury. She had recently been reassigned to the department's Northeast District on restricted duty. Ed Williams started with the force in 1994. Chaplains were consoling officers in the department's homicide unit and offering assistance throughout the department, he said. "It's a definite tragedy, first and foremost for the family of these two officers, but it is also felt here at the Detroit Police Department, as well," Roach said. "Folks here are kind of numb." [Full article here]

Video:


2 OFFICERS DEAD IN MURDER-SUICIDE
Couple Had History Of Domestic Abuse
clickondetroit.com
POSTED: Tuesday, September 22, 2009
UPDATED: 5:52 pm EDT September 22, 2009
Two Detroit police officers died Tuesday in what is being called a murder-suicide... Police said there is domestic abuse in the couple's history and that Williams' wife came into the Canton Police Department Sunday to report an assault, but she refused to file a formal complaint. Canton police filed a detailed report of the abuse complaints against Edward Williams, including a note on his file and a conversation with a commander in the Detroit Police Department about the alleged abuse. An acquaintance of the couple called police at 8:57 a.m. to report the two were on their way to the police department for a meeting. They arrived in different cars. Witnesses said the two got into an argument and that Williams shot his wife several times in the lot before getting back into his black Dodge Charger and shooting himself... The couple lived in Canton and were caretakers for Patricia Williams’ young child from a previous marriage to a Westland police officer... [Full article here]

Video:


CANTON, LIVONIA POLICE INVESTIGATING MURDERS
WWJ
Tuesday, 22 September 2009 4:33PM
[Excerpts] ...Canton Township police say an off-duty Detroit police officer, identified as Edward Williams II, shot his wife, Patricia Williams, in the parking lot of the township library on Canton Center Road before taking his own life... Canton police said late Tuesday afternoon Patricia Williams came into the police department early last Saturday morning to report an assault complaint but refused to file a formal complaint. She also would not provide her or her husband's name. On Sunday morning police say they received a call from an anonymous third party to report a possible domestic situation in the 3500 block of Wall Street. Police responded to the location and found no one inside the residence; but officers did find a handwritten note which prompted them to enter Edward Williams into a statewide law enforcement computer system as an endangered missing person. Detroit police were notified on Sunday of the situation involving the couple, according to a statement from Canton police. Later that day, Detroit police called Canton police and indicated they had been in contact with Edward WIlliams and he was "alright"... [Full article here]

Video:


CANTON POLICE PIECE TOGETHER MURDER-SUICIDE
Journal Newspapers - Scott Spielman
Scott Spielman, Editor
September 22, 2009 5:49 PM
[Excerpts] ...The Canton Police Department is essentially across the parking lot from the library; officers were soon on the scene. “We found two people down,” he said. “There were two victims.” Both were transported to local hospitals. Patricia Williams, 33, was pronounced dead when she arrived at Oakwood Hospital in Wayne. Ed Williams, 36, was on life support until afternoon and pronounced at about 2:30, said Gajeski. He said police believe Patricia Williams had been on the way to the police department to file a domestic complaint. Instead, she parked her car in the library lot, near her husband’s, after he had called her and convinced her to talk. Canton police investigators received several statements from witnesses indicating they saw the couple sitting and talking in the park area behind the library just prior to the shooting. When the discussion took a turn for the worse, Patricia Williams attempted to flee, but was shot multiple times... [Canton Township Police Sgt. Mark] Gajeski said Canton police had responded to their home for a domestic complaint twice during the past week. “We had some contact with them," he said. “It was pretty recent." On Sept. 19, Patricia Williams went to the Canton Police Department to file a domestic assault complaint, but changed her mind and refused to file a formal complaint, said Gajeski. She didn’t give officers her husband’s name, either. A day later, an anonymous caller reported a possible domestic situation at their home on Wall Street, according to Gajeski. Police who responded said they didn’t see anyone at home, but found a note that caused them to contact Detroit police and place Edward Williams on the endangered missing person list, according to Canton police. They cancelled that alert later that day. The next contact came Tuesday morning, when an acquaintance called police to tell them that Patricia Williams was on her way to the police department building to meet her husband in the lobby for a conversation, according to Gajeski. Gajeski said even though the incident was a tragedy it could have been worse. “The library parking lot was pretty full," he said. “It was getting ready to open"... [Full article here]

Video:


BEST REPORTING SO FAR:

VIOLENCE REPORTED BEFORE DETROIT COP KILLED WIFE, HIMSELF
Domestic violence report preceded shooting in Canton
The Detroit News
George Hunter, Christine Ferretti and Steve Pardo
September 23, 2009
[Excerpts] Detroit Police homicide investigator Ed Williams, who was featured on the television true-crime drama, "The First 48," said he didn't understand why people committed murder. "When you have a (brutal murder), you look at it and you're like, 'what type of individual would do something like this?'" Williams said on the show, which airs on the A&E cable network. "It amazes me that people are just willing to end someone's life. If I was here 25 years, I could never be able to make sense of it." Now police are trying to make sense of the events that prompted Williams, 36, to fatally shoot his wife, Detroit Police Officer Patricia Williams, 33, before turning the gun on himself Tuesday in an apparent murder-suicide in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library. Police knew the marriage between a Detroit homicide detective and his police officer wife may have been growing violent, particularly after finding a disturbing note written by Ed Williams after a report of domestic violence at the couple's Canton Township home. Just after midnight on Saturday, Patricia Williams went to the Canton police station to report that her husband had assaulted her. "But she decided not to press charges... About 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Canton police got a call about a domestic disturbance at a home in the 3500 block of Wall Street. Officers arrived but found nobody home, Gajeski said. However, they did find a note at the home, written by Ed Williams, which caused concern, he said. "It wasn't quite a suicide note, but it was a note indicating that he wanted his mother to have all his possessions if something happened to him," Gajeski said. "It was enough to make us take action." After finding the note, the Canton officers entered Ed Williams' name into the Law Enforcement Information Network as an endangered missing person, Gajeski said. An hour and a half after the note was found, Canton's shift commander called the Detroit Police Department to make them aware of the potentially violent situation brewing with Ed and Patricia Williams, Gajeski said. "We told them about the domestic violence calls, and that we'd put (Ed Williams) into LEIN," he said. Detroit Police 2nd Deputy Chief John Roach said a homicide investigator contacted Ed Williams that day. "He indicated everything was all right, so we communicated that back to Canton, and they took him out of LEIN," Roach said. Two days later, tragedy struck. At 8:57 a.m. Tuesday, Canton Police received a call from an acquaintance of Patricia Williams, who told officers the couple was on the way to the Canton Police Department. Nineteen minutes later, there were several 911 calls reporting shots fired in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library. Witnesses told Canton police they saw the couple talking in the park behind the library just prior to the shooting. A Detroit Police Internal Affairs investigator was inside the Canton police station, picking up a copy of Ed Williams' note, when the shooting occurred, Roach said. Dave Malhalab, a retired 23-year Detroit police veteran who worked with Patricia Williams at the city's former 6th Precinct, said domestic violence cases often are the toughest to investigate. "It's particularly difficult when the victim doesn't want to press charges," Malhalab said. Patricia Williams, who was about to retire from the police force because of a hand injury and was about to embark on a new career as a mortgage broker, had a young son, reportedly age 6 or 7, from a previous marriage. Friends said Patricia Williams was contemplating a divorce, and her husband had been distraught about it... [Full article here]

MURDER/SUICIDE: WARNING SIGNS WERE THERE
WXYZ
Last Update: 12:32 am
[Excerpts] The warning signs were there, but sadly, the murder/suicide that unfolded in a library parking lot could not be stopped... Investigators say Patricia Williams made a complaint against her husband earlier in the week. She called Canton Twp. police to inform them that she was meeting him Tuesday morning in the parking lot of the library... [Full article here]


Video:
I took some clips of Detective Ed Williams from 2 episodes of the television program, "The first 48" and put them together here:

"HOMICIDE ISN'T ACTUALLY FOR EVERYBODY. YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH A LOT. I JUST HAVE TO BE GOOD AT IT. I REFUSE TO GIVE UP. I REFUSE TO BE BEAT, BECAUSE IF YOU GIVE UP QUICKLY THESE PEOPLE WILL BEAT YOU. WELCOME TO THE GHETTO. IT'S US AGAINST THEM AND YOU HAVE TO BEAT THEM EVERY TIME... MOST OF THE TIME WHEN YOU HAVE A PERSON STABBED TO DEATH IT IS ONLY A CRIME OF PASSION - SOMETHING DONE IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT. WHEN YOU HAVE A SITUATION AND IT WAS THAT BRUTAL, YOU LOOK AT IT AND YOU'RE LIKE, 'WHAT TYPE OF INDIVIDUAL WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS? IT AMAZES ME THAT PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO JUST END SOMEONE'S LIFE. IF I WAS HERE 25 YEARS, I COULD NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE SENSE OF IT...HOMICIDE I THINK DOES CHANGE A PERSON. IT MAKES YOU A LITTLE BIT COLDER, YOU BECOME DESENSITIZED TO DEATH. THEY'RE NEVER REALLY PEOPLE TO YOU... IT WAS THE BEAST THAT CAME OUT. THE BEAST IS THE ONE WHO DID IT."


There will be questions asked, like WHO KNEW WHAT WHEN in Detroit PD and what did they do with what they knew? What weapon was used and was he ordered to turn his weapons in before the killings? How does Detroit PD respond to domestic violence complaints that involve personnel? Is there a POLICY in place specifically outlining how to handle officer-involved domestic violence [OIDV] incidents or officers who are abusive? Or do they just wing it - hoping for the best? Regarding Ed Williams did they handle things based on the priority of saving Ed Williams' career if possible or based on Patricia and Ed's safety?

This is so awful. The loss cannot be measured.

I am watching it happen over and over around the country.

In the midst of ending their marriage, our Tacoma Washington Police Chief David Brame also fatally shot his wife Crystal and himself. It also happened in a parking lot - but with their very young children nearby, running to them, crying out for strangers to save their mother who lay on the ground bleeding from a close contact glock head wound. Like Detroit's tragedy, ours also was preceded by warning signs like (uninvestigated) domestic violence allegations and indication of suicidal ideations. Tacoma had no policy. They were winging it. There was disagreeement about whether to remove his weapons - but while they were still bickering over what to do it happened.

The stolen life of Crystal and suicide of our chief - together with a $75 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit against our city, and county - did force change here. It's not fixed but it's better. Washington State now has a statewide law that every law enforcement agency in the state MUST have a specific officer-involved domestic violence [OIDV] policy. Law enforcement agencies must have a procedural map of exactly what actions must be taken, when, and by who.

Come learn from us the costly lessons: www.lanejudson.com.

There is still no place for victims of OIDV to turn, and there are a whole set of additional problems for victims who are officers themselves and for officers who are falling. There is still widespread tolerance of officers who are known to have a pattern of abuse. None of this is easy to address but we can't leave things the way that they are now.

See: www.policedomesticviolence.com
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