Search fatalities

David Ray Williams

Age : 37

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 09/09/2021

Location : Near Diggins village, rural area south of town

City : Diggins

County : Webster

State : Missouri

Agency : Webster County Sheriff’s Office; Seymour Police Department; Missouri State Highway Patrol

Officer(s) :Roye Cole

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by sheriff during armed-person manhunt

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/09/2021, Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole shot and killed 37-year-old David Ray Williams in a wooded area near Diggins after an hours-long multi-agency manhunt. Early reporting incorrectly stated that Williams had killed himself; investigators subsequently determined that Cole fired the fatal shot. A later prosecutor's review identified Cole publicly and ruled the shooting justified.
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The incident began at approximately 5:20 a.m. when emergency personnel responded to a house fire near Diggins. Authorities subsequently connected Williams to that fire, another barn fire, a stolen vehicle and a stolen rifle. Police began searching for him in the Seymour/Diggins area.
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According to the later investigative report, a witness reported seeing Williams point and fire the stolen rifle at a Webster County deputy. The deputy fired six rounds at Williams but did not strike him. Authorities also alleged that Williams pointed the rifle at a Seymour police officer. Williams then ran from the area carrying the rifle.
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Sheriff Cole arrived and joined the search. Authorities alleged that while moving through the rural area Williams committed additional acts including trespassing, harassment, another arson and attempted burglary. Police eventually received information placing him in a wooded area.
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The Missouri State Highway Patrol joined the manhunt and deployed a helicopter, which located Williams in the woods. Williams had climbed into an elevated hunting stand. According to the investigative report, Williams refused commands to disarm, threatened to kill approaching officers and repeatedly shouldered and pointed the rifle toward law enforcement below.
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At approximately 1:20 p.m., a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper moving through heavy brush accidentally discharged his weapon, firing two shots. Because of the terrain and distance separating officers, personnel closer to Williams heard the shots but did not know who had fired them or where they originated. Radio traffic likewise reflected confusion over the source of the gunfire.
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This accidental discharge became directly relevant to the fatal shooting. The investigative report states that Cole did not know a trooper had accidentally fired. Cole knew of the earlier allegation that Williams had fired at a deputy, was watching Williams move and shoulder the rifle, heard the two unidentified gunshots and believed Williams might again have fired toward police. Cole fired one round, striking Williams in the chest.
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After officers determined Williams was no longer holding the rifle, Cole and other officers approached and attempted CPR. Williams died at the scene. An autopsy determined that the gunshot wound to his chest caused his death. Toxicology detected methamphetamine and other drugs.
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The Webster County Sheriff's Office requested an investigation by the regional Sheriff’s Critical Incident Team. The team included personnel from Greene, Christian, Lawrence and Webster counties. The completed investigative package was submitted on 10/07/2021 to the Webster County Prosecuting Attorney. The prosecutor also requested review of portions of the evidence by another area prosecutor.
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The Webster County Prosecuting Attorney subsequently ruled Cole's shooting justified, concluding that Cole reasonably used deadly force in defense of other officers. No criminal charge was filed against Cole.
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Williams' family later challenged the official account in federal litigation. In December 2022, the family filed a wrongful-death/civil-rights lawsuit naming Sheriff Roye Cole, Webster County Presiding Commissioner Paul Ipock and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The lawsuit alleged excessive force and specifically disputed the government's account that Williams fired the rifle during the final encounter, asserting that he never fired the gun.
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The case therefore contains an important distinction between two separate gunfire allegations. The prosecutor's report said an eyewitness saw Williams fire at a Webster County deputy earlier in the manhunt. During the final tree-stand confrontation, however, the two gunshots heard immediately before Cole killed Williams came from the accidental discharge of a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper's weapon. Cole did not know their source and believed Williams might have fired.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Roye Cole was the Webster County sheriff who fired the single fatal shot that killed David Ray Williams. Cole was personally participating in the manhunt and later stated that he fired after seeing Williams shoulder and point the rifle toward officers and hearing gunshots whose source he did not know. The subsequent investigation established that those immediately preceding shots had actually been accidentally fired by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper.
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The unidentified Webster County deputy involved earlier in the encounter fired six rounds at Williams after Williams allegedly fired toward him; none struck Williams. The Seymour police officer whom Williams allegedly threatened with the rifle did not fire the fatal shot. The Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper whose rifle accidentally discharged immediately before Cole's fatal shot was also not publicly identified in the detailed prosecutor-review reporting located for this update.
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The investigation was not conducted solely by Cole's own department. Webster County activated the regional Sheriff’s Critical Incident Team, involving Greene, Christian, Lawrence and Webster counties, and the completed investigation was reviewed by the Webster County Prosecuting Attorney, who additionally sought review of evidence by another area prosecutor.
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The Williams family nevertheless later alleged in federal litigation that authorities violated Williams' civil rights through excessive force and disputed a central component of the government's gunfire narrative.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2021/09/10/missouri-man-killed-officer-involved-shooting-after-barn-fire/8255456002/
https://www.ky3.com/2021/09/10/suspect-dead-after-officer-involved-shooting-webster-county/
https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/local-news-local-news/man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-webster-county/
https://www.webstercountycitizen.com/news/article_f7f2f10e-15b2-11ec-aee9-eb41c862b228.html
https://www.ky3.com/2021/09/10/update-webster-county-manhunt-ends-with-death-suspect-officer-involved-shooting-under-investigation/
https://www.ky3.com/2022/01/25/deadly-webster-county-officer-involved-shooting-september-2021-ruled-justified/
https://www.ky3.com/2022/12/15/family-man-shot-killed-by-webster-county-deputies-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit/