PUBLIC SAFETY

Homeowner: No warning before IMPD officer shot him

Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
Carl Williams, who was shot by police in his garage this week after calling 911 to report a robbery, met members of the media Friday.

Carl Williams, grimacing from the pain of the bullet fragments still in his body as he sat in a wheelchair, said he didn't realize police were outside his home Tuesday morning until an officer shot him in the groin.

Williams said he felt lucky to be alive, even though he faces a painful recovery in the months ahead. A 48-year-old postal worker and former military police officer, Williams appeared Friday — the day after his release from the hospital — next to a pair of attorneys now representing him in what eventually could be a legal claim against the city for what one of them described as “a big problem predicated on a complete error.”

His comments helped fill in some gaps in the story of what happened on Tuesday. Williams called 911 to report a man who robbed Williams' wife outside their home in the 3600 block of Foxtail Drive on the city's east side. As he waited for police to arrive, he heard a noise outside that gave him concern that the carjacker, in possession of his wife’s keys that include a garage door opener, might be returning.

With his gun at his side and his wife behind him, Williams opened the garage door. He said he barely got one foot onto his driveway when the gunfire began.

Questions surround IMPD officer's shooting of homeowner

“The only thing I can remember is intense pain, falling on the ground and telling the police officers, ‘I am the homeowner. Why did you shoot me?'”

That’s a question still awaiting a definitive answer. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officials, who held their own press briefing on the day of the shooting, described it as a tragic collision of events that led to a big mistake: an accidental shooting after a confusing situation.

The report of the carjacking came at about 4:30 a.m. Williams relayed to the dispatcher that the family's car had been stolen by a young black man wearing a red shirt and a ball cap — a set of facts he relayed from his wife, who could be heard crying and sobbing on an edited recording of the 911 call. As the call progressed, Williams can be heard asking, "Is that him?" before the phone line went dead.

This was the information available to officers when they arrived, in the dark, and found a car matching the description of the Williams’ stolen vehicle sitting in the driveway of their house with the lights on. Suspicious that the carjacker was still around, the officers quietly approached the house — one hiding behind a bush, relaying the car’s license plate number to a radio operator.

Before the officer could finish, the garage door opened. And in seconds, Williams was on the ground bleeding from a bullet wound that officers originally reported as a gunshot to the stomach. The officers called for medics.

A detective and evidence technician examine a car that a robber tried to take Tuesday morning leading police to shoot a homeowner.

At the news conference Friday in his family’s church, Williams said he never heard a word from police before they opened fire. He remembers hearing at least two gun shots. The exact number of shots is still unclear.

Attorney Richard Hailey, who is representing Williams, said two lights were on in the garage at the time of the incident, and there was a motion-activated light outside. “He was lit up as well as we are in front of you almost right now,” said Hailey, under the glow of fluorescent lighting in a classroom.

IMPD spokesman Richard Riddle said Friday that the police investigation into the incident is ongoing. Initially, he didn’t dispute Williams’ account, except that police found no motion lights attached to the outside of the garage. Police have yet to interview Christopher Mills, the nine-year officer who pulled the trigger and is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Delays in interviewing officers involved in shootings often occur because they are entitled to the same legal rights as suspects in a criminal case.

Hailey said his firm would be focused on whether there was “an error in judgment accentuated by either not complying with training rules or not being well-trained to begin with.” Depending on how the city responds to discussions, though, it may not lead to a lawsuit.

“If your conversations are constructive you may not have to file one at all,” Hailey said.

For the Williams family, the wounds of what happened Tuesday will linger for some time. Three days earlier, the couple celebrated their 25th anniversary.

Now, Sonia Williams — described as a working mother and involved grandmother — is so shaken from her encounter with the carjacker who put a gun to her head that she can't answer questions about it without crying. She was further traumatized, Hailey said, by watching her husband shot by police.

Carl Williams will carry around bullet fragments until his doctors decide whether to remove them. The fragments are lodged near the ball joint in his hip, and he admitted Friday to being in considerable pain. As his wheelchair rolled over bumps, and when he was lifted into a pickup truck, he flinched.

As for his feelings about the police, Williams said he was conflicted. "The police have a tough job, we all know this. But I guess I'm torn. Before you pick up any firearm and point it at someone, you have to be sure what you're going to hit once you fire it."

Asked if he would ever call police again if faced with an emergency, Williams hesitated before answering what he described as "a loaded question."

"Yes," he said. "I'm not going to let the actions or inactions of one individual try to taint the whole police department."

Call IndyStar reporter Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter: @RbtKing.

Carl Williams, shot by police earlier this week after calling 911 to report a carjacking attempt on his wife, is wheeled out of a church where he spoke to members of the media on Friday.

Fatal shootings by IMPD increase in 2015, but sketchy data nationally hinder deep analysis