PRIOR INCIDENTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
1] September 19, 2009: domestic violence incident reported by Officer Patricia Williams at the Canton PD.
2] September 21, 2009: responded to domestic violence call at home the home of Officers Edward and Patricia Williams. Canton PD found a "not quite a suicide note" written by Edward.
3] September 22, 2009: Canton PD received a phone call that Officer Patricia Williams was enroute to the Canton PD to report another domestic violence incident [incident number three over a four day period of time].
4] September 22, 2009: Officer Edward Williams shot and killed Officer Patricia Williams before she was able to make it to the Canton PD to file a police report.
Officer Patricia Catherine [Katie] Ryan Williams
Detroit Police
AP Photo - In this undated composite photos provided by the Detroit police department, officers Edward Williams II and Patricia Williams are shown. Edward, an off-duty Detroit police officer fatally shot his wife, Patricia, in the parking lot of a suburban library on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 and then shot himself, authorities said. Patricia Williams, 33, also an off-duty Detroit officer, was pronounced dead upon arrival at an area hospital, while Edward Williams II, 36, died later Tuesday after he was taken off life support, said Sgt. Mark Gajeski of the Canton Township police.
A law enforcement official surveys the scene at the Canton Public Library in Canton Township, Mich., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, where an off-duty Detroit police officer fatally shot his wife in the parking lot of the library before shooting himself. Police said the gunman died later after being taken off life support. Ben Leubsdorf - AP Photo
Katie RyanBorn in Detroit, Michigan on Jun. 18, 1976
Departed on Sep. 22, 2009 and resided in Canton, MI.
Visitation: Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009 & Friday, Sep. 25, 2009
L. J. Griffin Funeral Home - Westland. 42600 Ford Road Canton, MI US 48187. Phone:734-981-1700].
Service: Saturday, Sep. 26, 2009
Cemetery: Holy Sepulchre Cemetery [25800 West 10 Mile Road Southfield, MI US 48034. Phone: 248-350-1900]
Beloved mother of Kevin M. Swope. Loving daughter of Debbie and Kelly Ryan. Dear sister of Kelly M. (Lyndsey) and Bridget E. Proud aunt of Kolton and Alexis. Granddaughter of Patricia Ryan. Also survived by many aunts and uncles, numerous loving cousins and close friends. Proud active member of the Detroit Police Department.RYAN KATIESeptember 22, 2009. Beloved mother of Kevin M. Swope. Loving daughter of Debbie and Kelly Ryan. Dear sister of Kelly M. (Lyndsey) and Bridget E. Proud aunt of Kolton and Alexis. Granddaughter of Patricia Ryan. Also survived by many aunts and uncles, numerous loving cousins and close friends. Proud active member of the Detroit Police Department. Resting at the L.J. Griffin Funeral Home, 42600 Ford Rd. (W. of Lilley) Thursday 6-9 p.m. and Friday 3-9 p.m. Scripture Service Friday 7 p.m. In state Saturday, 9:30 a.m. at Christ the King Church, 20800 Grand River (at Burt Rd.), Detroit, until time of Service at 10 a.m. Share a "Memorial Tribute" with the family at http://www.griffinfuneralhome.com/.
Police Murder/SuicideTV 20 NEWS, Detroit MI9/22/2009http://www.tv20detroit.com/home/60334392.html
Detroit Police are mourning the loss of one of their own tonight.
Officer Patricia Williams died this morning shortly after she was gunned down outside the Canton Township Library.
My TV 20's Dave Leval explains what has police stunned is, her killer is a fellow officer.witness: "Please hurry, hurry, hurry! Please! Come on! Hurry!"Panic engulfs visitors to the Canton Township Library.witness: "Hurry People are running in the library! They're in the library!"Police arrive to find two people dead in the parking lot.witness: "He shot himself, and he shot her."Police learn Ed Williams turned the gun on himself after he killed hiswife, Patricia, when she got out of her car. Both are Detroit Police Officers who live in Canton.Investigators claim Williams shot her, as she was on her way to discuss a domestic disturbance with police.The couple met here after investigators tell us Williams called his wife and asked to meet him here. It's still not clear what caused Williams to open fire on his wife.Police point out they responded to the couple's home regarding a similar incident over the weekend.firefighter: "Fire hoses"Firefighters wash away the blood, while the cars of the shooter and victim are removed. It's all part of the effort to re-open the library. The only story people are discussing here is of real-life deadly violence. In Canton Township, Dave Leval, My TV 20 News at 10.Patricia Williams had been a Detroit Police Officer since November 1995. Ed Williams started with the force in 1994.Police: Detroit cop kills wife, himself at Canton libraryThe Detroit News
Ed Williams of Canton Township shot his wife, Patricia, who is an officer at the Detroit's Northwest District, following an argument in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library, police said. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)
Wreckers tow away the victim's BMW as the shooter's black Dodge Charger (left) still sits in the parking lot. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)
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. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)
Ed Williams
Patricia Williams
Canton Township -- A Detroit Police officer was on her way to report a domestic dispute Tuesday 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, police said.
Both were taken to area hospitals, Canton Township Police Sgt. Mark Gajeski said. Patricia Williams died on her way to the hospital, Gajeski said. Ed Williams was initially on life support, but police confirmed his death about 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.
Canton Police had responded to a domestic dispute at the couple's home this weekend, Gajeski said. At about 8:30 Tuesday morning, a friend called police to report that Patricia Williams was on her way into the Canton Police station to report another domestic incident, Gajeski said.
Ed Williams met his wife in the parking lot and fired more than one shot at her for unknown reasons, Gajeski said.
Patricia Williams was in the process of retiring from the police force due to a hand injury and was planning to go into real estate, friends said.
"Obviously, this is a personal tragedy for the family, but also for the Detroit Police Department," 2nd Deputy Chief John Roach said.
"Since the shooting happened in Canton, it's their investigation, although we'll assist," Roach said.
More information
Detroit Police Officers Edward Williams and his wife, Patricia, had run-ins with Canton Police leading up to Tuesday's shootings.
Sept. 19, 12:30 a.m.: Patricia Williams came into the Canton Police Department to report an assault but refused to file a formal complaint, nor would she provide her or her husband's name.
Sept. 20, 9:30 a.m.: An anonymous caller reported a possible domestic situation at the couple's address. Police responded but no one was inside. Officers did find a handwritten note that prompted them to enter Edward into the statewide law enforcement computer as an endangered missing person.
Sept. 20, 11 a.m.: Canton's on-duty shift commander advised the Detroit Police of the situation with the Williams.
Sept. 20, 6:30 p.m., Canton Police received a call from a Detroit Police command officer who stated they had contact with Edward and that he was safe. Canton advised Detroit he would be removed from the system.Sept. 22, 8:57 a.m.: Canton Police received a call from an acquaintance of Patricia Williams, saying she was on the way to the department to meet her husband in the lobby for a conversation.Sept. 22, 9 :16 a.m.: Canton's 911 received several calls stating shots were fired in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library. Officers were on scene at 9:17 a.m. Police received several statements from witnesses saying the couple was seen sitting and talking in the park behind the library just before the shooting started.
Canton, Livonia Police Investigating Murders
WWJ News
September 22, 2009
http://www.wwj.com/Canton--Livonia-Police-Investigating-Murders/5272522Canton Township (WWJ) -- Police in Canton Township and Livonia were investigating separate murders Tuesday morning. 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.
Patricia Williams was also a Detroit officer.
WWJ Newsradio 950's Pat Sweeting reports Williams was shot four times and died.
Witnesses told police Edward Williams II then shot himself. He died Tuesday afternoon.
Police said in a statement that "at approximately 9:16 a.m., Canton 911 received numerous calls for shots fired at the Canton Public Library parking lot on Canton Center Road.
Canton police and fire units responded and found two victims shot.
"Listen to the 9-1-1 calls: 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."
Canton police investigators say several witnesses indicated the couple was sitting and talking in the park area behind the library just prior to the shooting.
Autopsies will be conducted and the remains under investigation.
The library's website said the library was closed for the remainder of the day.
Canton police piece together murder-suicide
Canton Eagle
September 22, 2009http://www.journalgroup.com/Canton/10154/canton-police-piece-together-murder-suicideA Detroit police officer fatally shot his wife and then turned his firearm on himself at the Canton Public Library Tuesday morning, according to Canton police.Canton Police Sgt. Mark Gajeski said investigators were still looking into what led to the shooting, which took place in the parking lot at about 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.He said the 911 calls came in from frantic library patrons at about 9:15, reports of multiple shots fired. 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, Gajeski said. Then Ed Williams turned the gun on himself.Both worked for the Detroit Police Department, according to department spokesperson John Roach. Patricia Williams was a patrol officer since 1995; she had worked in the northwest district until a recent hand injury caused her to be reassigned to restricted duty in the northeast district. Ed Williams was a detective. He had worked for the department since 1994.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.”Patricia Williams leaves behind a 10-year-old son from a previous relationship.Police: Off-duty officer fatally shoots wife, selfAssociated Press Sep. 22, 2009http://www.fresnobee.com/641/story/1646874.htmlCANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Police in a Detroit suburb say an off-duty officer fatally shot his wife in the parking lot of a library and then shot himself.Sgt. Mark Gajeski (Guy-ES'-ski) of the Canton Township Public Safety Department says they both were Detroit officers who live in Canton.Police said the woman, 33-year-old Patricia Williams, was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital Tuesday. Gajeski says the man, 36-year-old Edward Williams II, died later after being taken off life support.Gajeski says police had responded to a disturbance at the couple's home over the weekend. He says the woman was going to the Canton police station, which is near the library, when she was shot.The Detroit Police Department had no immediate comment.
2 Officers Dead In Murder-Suicide
Couple Had History Of Domestic AbuseChannel 4 News - Detroit MISeptember 22, 2009http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21059408/detail.html
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Two Detroit police officers died Tuesday in what is being called a murder-suicide.Canton police said witnesses reported seeing a man shoot a woman, and then himself, just after 9 a.m. in the parking lot that is shared by the Canton Public Library and the Canton Police Department.Detroit police homicide detective of 15 years, Edward Williams II, 36, and his wife, Patricia, a 33-year-old Detroit police officer, have been identified as the victims.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.Investigators said an anonymous third party called police at 9:30 a.m. Sunday about a possible domestic dispute at the couple's home on the 3500 block of Wall Street.When police arrived, nobody was home, but an alleged suicide note written by Edward Williams was found in the home, police sources told Local 4.The Canton police notified the Detroit police of the incident and a Detroit police commander stated that he had made contact with Edward Williams and that he was alright.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 first panicked 911 call came into the Canton Police Department at 9:16 a.m."I need someone to get here quickly. We're going to need an ambulance," said one caller."Please, hurry, hurry, hurry. Please. We have to evacuate," another caller told a 911 operator.
"She's laying dead next to a van," one caller told a responder."Where's the gun?" asked the 911 operator. "I can't see, there are people all around the body," the last caller told the operator.
Patricia Williams was pronounced dead at an area hospital immediately following the shooting.Edward Williams was on life support for most of the day but police confirmed his death late in the afternoon.The couple lived in Canton and were caretakers for Patricia Williams’ young child from a previous marriage to a Westland police officer.
The Canton Public Library is closed for the day.Detroit cop shoots wife, himself in Canton
Woman, also a cop, dead; husband in critical conditionDetroit Free PressSeptember 22, 2009CANTON - Shots rang out in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library this morning as an off-duty Detroit Police homicide investigator shot and killed his wife, also a DPD officer, and then shot himself, according to investigators.Ed Williams, 36, is on life support pending organ donation, Canton Police spokesman Mark Gajeski said at noon.
His wife, Patricia, 33, was declared dead upon arrival at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne just after the 9:16 a.m. shooting, he said.Canton Township Police officers had responded to the couple's home for a domestic complaint over the weekend, Gajeski said. And today, a male friend of Patricia's called Canton Police at about 8:30 a.m., reporting there had been another incident.He said Patricia was on her way to the police department, Gajeski said.
She never made it.
“He called her and he got her to come over to the library and talk to her,” Gajeski said, looking at the couple's cars still in the parking lot of the Canton Center Drive library parking lot, the revolver used still lying on the ground. “She went to talk to him and that’s when the shooting started.”
Detroit Police spokesman John Roach said Patricia Williams, with the department since November 1995, was a patrol officer at DPD's Northwest District on disability with a hand injury. She had recently been reassigned to the department's Northeast District on restricted duty.
Ed Williams had been with Detroit Police since September 1973, Roach said.
DPD Police chaplains were on their way to the scene and DPD's Homicide Unit to counsel officers, 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. Folks here are kind of numb."
Off-duty Detroit cop shoots wife, then himselfPoliceOne.comSeptember 22, 2009
http://www.policeone.com/off-duty/articles/1912356-Off-duty-Detroit-cop-shoots-wife-then-himself/CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Police in a Detroit suburb say an off-duty officer fatally shot his wife in the parking lot of a library and then shot himself.
Sgt. Mark Gajeski of the Canton Township Public Safety Department says they both were Detroit officers who live in Canton.The woman was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital Tuesday, while the man is on life support with a head wound. Their names were not immediately released.Gajeski says police had responded to a disturbance at the couple's home over the weekend. He says the woman was going to the Canton police station, which is near the library, when she was shot.The library was open at the time but was closed while investigators were at the scene.Detroit Police officer shoots wife, self in parking lot of Canton Public LibraryMLIVESeptember 22, 2009http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/09/report_detroit_police_officers.htmlCanton Township Police say a Detroit police officer shot his wife — also a Detroit cop — in the parking lot of the Canton Public library before turning the gun on himself.Police say the woman was dead on arrival at a hospital, while the man is on life support.Spokesman John Roach confirmed with the Detroit Free Press that both deceased worked for the Detroit Police Department, but he did not release their identities.Fox 2 reports the couple had been fighting throughout the weekend and fellow officers had been called to their home.The woman was headed for the police station, according to Canton Police spokesman Mark Gajeski, but didn't quite make it.Freep.com, Sept 22: “She was supposed to be going over to the police station today, and I think he called her and he got her to come over to the library and talk to her,” Gajeski said, looking at the couple's cars still in the parking lot, the revolver used still lying on the ground. “She went to talk to him and that’s when the shooting started.”The library is closed, and will remain so for the remainder of the day as police continue to investigate.Detroit cop shoots wife, himself in Canton
Woman, also a cop, dead; husband in critical conditionDetroit Free PressSept. 22, 2009http://www.freep.com/article/20090922/NEWS02/90922023/1319/Detroit-cop-shoots-wife--himself-in-CantonShots rang out in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library this morning as an off-duty Detroit Police homicide investigator shot and killed his wife, also a DPD officer, and then shot himself, according to investigators.
Ed Williams, 36, is on life support pending organ donation, Canton Police spokesman Mark Gajeski said at noon.His wife, Patricia, 33, was declared dead upon arrival at Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne just after the 9:16 a.m. shooting, he said.Canton Township Police officers had responded to the couple's home for a domestic complaint over the weekend, Gajeski said. And today, a male friend of Patricia's called Canton Police at about 8:30 a.m., reporting there had been another incident.He said Patricia was on her way to the police department, Gajeski said.She never made it.“He called her and he got her to come over to the library and talk to her,” Gajeski said, looking at the couple's cars still in the parking lot of the Canton Center Drive library parking lot, the revolver used still lying on the ground. “She went to talk to him and that’s when the shooting started.”Detroit Police spokesman John Roach said Patricia Williams, with the department since November 1995, was a patrol officer at DPD's Northwest District 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.DPD Police chaplains were on their way to the scene and DPD's Homicide Unit to counsel officers, 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. Folks here are kind of numb."
Cop Kills Wife in Canton, Turns Gun on HimselfWXYZ News, Detroit MISeptember 22, 2009 http://www.wxyz.com/news/story/Cop-Kills-Wife-in-Canton-Turns-Gun-on-Himself/8Sf_CD-CC0KSmRGfKqZmIA.cspxCANTON TWP., Mich. (WXYZ) - The parking lot at the Canton Township Public Library has been cordoned off by police after a deadly shooting Tuesday morning.Action News has learned two off-duty Detroit Police officers were involved. Canton Twp. police say the two were married.Police say Edward G. Williams II shot and killed his wife, Patricia Williams. He then turned the gun on himself and is listed in critical condition.Patricia Williams had made a complaint against her husband earlier in the week.She called police to inform them that she was meeting him Tuesday morning in the parking lot of the library.Witnesses say the man immediately got out of the car and began shooting. His wife reportedly tried to run but was shot several times.Edward Williams was a homicide investigator for Detroit Police. Patricia was also a Detroit Police officer.The couple lived in Canton with their young child.Police are at the scene investigating.The library has been closed because of the incident.Action News is at the scene gathering details. Stay with WXYZ.com for updates.Police: Detroit cop shoots wife, himself at Canton libraryThe Detroit NewsSeptember 22, 2009http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20090922/METRO01/909220407/Police--Detroit-cop-shoots-wife--himself-at-Canton-libraryEd Williams of Canton Township shot his wife, Patricia, who is an officer at the Detroit's Northwest District, following an argument in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library, police said. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)
Canton Township -- A Detroit Police homicide detective is on life support after fatally shooting his police officer wife this morning before turning the gun on himself, police said.
At about 9 a.m., Ed Williams of Canton Township shot his wife, Patricia, who is an officer at the Detroit's Northwest District, following an argument in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library, police said.
Patricia Williams was in the process of retiring from the police force due to a hand-related injury and was planning to go into real estate, friends said.
"Obviously, this is a personal tragedy for the family, but also for the Detroit Police Department," 2nd Deputy Chief John Roach said.
After the apparent attempted murder-suicide, both victims were taken to area hospitals, Canton Township Police Sgt. Mark Gajeski said. Patricia Williams died on her way to the hospital, he said.
Ed Williams fired more than one shot at his wife for unknown reasons, Gajeski said.
"Since the shooting happened in Canton, it's their investigation, although we'll assist," Roach said.
The library is closed.
Family in Murder/Suicide Issues Statement
WXYZ News
September 23, 2009
http://www.wxyz.com/mostpopular/story/Family-in-Murder-Suicide-Issues-Statement/8Sf_CD-CC0KSmRGfKqZmIA.cspx CANTON TWP., Mich. (WXYZ) - The family of a Detroit Police detective, who witnesses say shot his wife before turning the gun on himself, has issued a statement.
Canton Township Police say Edward Williams II shot his wife Patricia Williams in the parking lot of Canton Township's public library around 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Both Edward and Patricia were Detroit Police officers.
He then turned the gun on himself and died Tuesday afternoon in the hospital.
Edward Williams' family issued the following statement about the incident Wednesday afternoon:
"The family of Edward Williams is devastated by this horrible tragedy, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to the family of Patricia Williams. We loved Patricia and Edward, and are stunned and deeply saddened by this most tragic turn of events."
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.
Witnesses say they saw Edward and Patricia sitting and talking in the park area behind the library before shots rang out. Investigators say Edward began shooting his wife several times as she tried to run.
Edward Williams was a homicide investigator for Detroit Police. Patricia was also a Detroit Police officer.
The couple lived in Canton with Patricia's young child from a previous relationship.
Police are at the scene investigating. Calls to 911 from the frightening ordeal were also released. The library was closed for the day because of the incident.
Just one day after the murder-suicide, mental health experts discussed mental health issues with local law enforcement.
They also talked about help that is available for people who are feeling suicidal. The Wayne County Suicide Hotline is available for those who feel they need to call. The number is 1-800-241-4949.
Suicide rate of Detroit cops highest in nationMLive
September 23, 2009http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/09/suicide_rate_of_detroit_cops_h.htmlWhen Detroit homicide investigator Ed Williams killed himself yesterday, he became the face of a troubling trend: A recent study suggests police officers in Detroit kill themselves at a higher rate than in any other major city in the nation.
Police say Williams killed his wife, also a Detroit officer, in the parking lot of the Canton Public Library before turning the gun on himself.
According to data compiled by Wayne State University, 28 of every 1,000 Detroit police officers kill themselves each year, significantly higher than rates in Los Angeles (20 per), Chicago (18) and New York (15).
Professor Bengt Arnetz told the Detroit Free Press no other police department in the nation matched Detroit's suicide pace.
"We don't know exactly why it happens," he said. "We know risk factors are sustained stress, depression, personality factors and trauma exposure."
Williams was no stranger to trauma exposure, as evidenced by his 2004 appearance on "The First 48," a true-crime show on A&E.
Questions linger in Canton murder-suicideHome Town Life September 23, 2009http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090923/NEWS03/90922005Rodney Spencer expected a routine day Tuesday when he drove to the Canton Public Library, where he parks his car and goes for scenic walks in nearby Heritage Park.
Instead, he found a parking lot swarmed by police officers, cordoned off by yellow crime-scene tape and emptied of library patrons after authorities say Detroit police homicide investigator Edward Gordon Williams II gunned down his wife, Detroit police officer Patricia Catherine Williams, before shooting himself outside Michigan’s busiest single-branch library.
“This is terrible. It’s just crazy,” said Spencer, who lives near the library. “I came out here to walk and I see this. Canton is a great place to live, and this is a sad day.”
The bodies had been removed before Spencer arrived, but a puddle of blood hadn’t yet been washed away by firefighters on the spot where Edward Williams, 36, shot his 33-year-old wife four times, including once in the head, with a .38-caliber snub-nose revolver he then turned to his own head.
The couple, Canton residents, had a troubled past, and township police had gone to their Wall Street home Sunday after an anonymous caller reported a possible domestic incident. Officers found no one at the residence when they arrived.
Canton police Sgt. Mark Gajeski confirmed Patricia Williams had a boyfriend who became worried and called authorities Tuesday morning, saying the Williamses were supposed to meet at the police department on Canton Center Road. They never made it there.
Police aren’t sure why the couple ended up parking next door at the library — Edward Williams in his Dodge Charger, Patricia Williams in her BMW — before she was shot around 9:16 a.m. as she ran in the direction of the police station. Several witnesses told investigators they had seen the couple sitting and talking in a park area near the library just prior to the shootings.
Patricia Williams was the mother of a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage to a Westland police officer.
“This is tragic,” Canton Public Safety Director John Santomauro said Tuesday, on a warm, humid day as the last hours of summer ticked away. “These situations are always very tragic, but it hits home even more when it’s law enforcement personnel.”
Gajeski said he didn’t know whether Edward Williams knew his wife had a boyfriend or whether jealousy could have played a role in the shootings.
During a Canton Township Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night, township Supervisor Phil LaJoy lamented what he called “a very tragic day,” but praised local police and fire emergency medical personnel for responding to 9-1-1 calls “literally in a minute.”
The grisly shooting incident served as a sobering reminder that Canton isn’t immune to violence, even though the township earlier this month was cited by the FBI for having the third-lowest crime rate among 16 communities with populations of 50,000-100,000 people in a three-county metro Detroit area.
No one else was injured Tuesday as gunfire erupted while library patrons went to and from one of the township’s busiest buildings. The shootings closed the facility for the day, although people could be seen returning books and other materials in a dropoff box.
Laurie Golden, library marketing and communications manager, said a crisis counselor was brought in Wednesday to help employees and patrons. She said patrons typically line up outside the library before it opens, and Tuesday’s shootings occurred shortly after the facility opened at 9 a.m.
Patricia Williams was taken to Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, but was already dead. Edward Williams was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Ypsilanti, where police said he was placed on life support until his organs could be harvested.
Like LaJoy, Golden commended township police for an “awesome” and quick response to the incident.
The shootings came as Canton and Detroit police already were planning a soccer match to benefit domestic violence shelters such as First Step, which serves western Wayne County. The game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the High Velocity Sports Center on Michigan Avenue west of Canton Center Road. Admission is $5.
Women who feel threatened and need advice are urged to call First Step anytime at (734) 722-6800 or toll free at (888) 453-5900.
“Unfortunately, these incidents are becoming all too common,” said Judy Ellis, First Step executive director. “We can help to assess the potential for this kind of danger. When dealing with anyone who has any violent history, it should be clear that there is a possibility it could further escalate.”
Violence can escalate, particularly when someone in a relationship feels a loss of control, and Ellis said it’s important for potential victims to have a safety plan. She said friends and family members of victims also are urged to call First Step, which provides assistance for free.
Violence reported before Detroit cop killed wife, himself Investigators collect evidence from Ed Williams' car. Police say Patricia Williams reported an assault by her husband on Saturday morning. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)
Canton police investigate the deaths of Ed and Patricia Williams at the Canton Public Library parking lot Tuesday. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News)
Canton Township -- 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, and she didn't cooperate with the officers when they asked for more information," said Canton Township Police Sgt. Mark Gajeski.
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.
Patricia Williams' parents arrived at a relative's home in Garden City shortly after noon Tuesday. They were distressed and declined to comment.
Joe Ryan of Superior Township, who lived next-door to Ed and Patricia Williams before they moved to Canton two years ago, said he never got the indication anything was wrong.
"They were great people to live next-door to," he said.
Couple's tragic end a sad example
Domestic violence, suicides plague police
LANSING STATE JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER 24, 2009
HTTP://WWW.LANSINGSTATEJOURNAL.COM/ARTICLE/20090924/NEWS01/909240342/1002/NEWS01 First, the shots rang out. Then came the screams.
A woman's lifeless body lay on the cement. The man who had shot her was down, too, a self-inflicted gunshot to his head, his breathing too shallow to detect.
"Someone's shooting in our parking lot...please hurry, hurry, hurry!" a caller pleaded with a 911 dispatcher. "Come on, hurry!"
The pleas were useless: Canton police said that 33-year-old Patricia Williams, a Detroit police officer, was already dead, and her killer and husband - Detroit homicide Detective Edward Williams, 36 - had fatally turned the gun on himself.
The Tuesday morning deaths were a marriage of two endemic problems plaguing police departments nationwide, experts said: domestic violence and suicides.
"Police officers have unique jobs where they're instructed to keep their family life separate from their work life," said Eric Lambert, a professor with Wayne State University's department of criminal justice.
"In reality, that's impossible."
According to data compiled by WSU, Detroit officers face a higher suicide rate than most police, at 28 per 100,000 police officers, nearly twice as many as New York City police.
Also, marriages involving police officers are two to four times more likely to involve domestic violence.
Canton police, trying to piece together what led a Detroit Police Department homicide investigator to shoot and kill his wife, then himself, face an uncomfortable reality: More police officers kill themselves in Detroit than in other big cities nationwide, and police in general have higher rates of domestic violence.
So says Bengt Arnetz, professor and director of occupational medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, which is launching a three-year study designed to help Detroit officers cope with stress, especially in light of officers' high suicide rates.
"We don't know exactly why it happens," Arnetz said.
"We know risk factors are sustained stress, depression, personality factors and trauma exposure."
Police said trouble had been brewing between Edward and Patricia - also a Detroit police officer - for days, prompting a domestic complaint to be filed with Canton police over the weekend.
On Tuesday, a male friend of Patricia Williams called police about 8:30 a.m. to report there had been another incident.
The caller said Patricia Williams was on her way to the Police Department, Canton police spokesman Mark 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 along the side of the library parking lot.
"He called her, and he got her to come over to the library and talk to him," Gajeski said. "That's when the shooting started."
The couple had no children, though Patricia Williams had a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage.
Questions still unanswered in library murder-suicideHome Town Life
September 24, 2009
HTTP://WWW.HOMETOWNLIFE.COM/ARTICLE/20090924/NEWS03/909240637
Rodney Spencer expected a routine day Tuesday when he drove to the Canton Public Library, where he parks his car and goes for scenic walks in nearby Heritage Park.
Instead, he found a parking lot swarmed by police officers, cordoned off by yellow crime-scene tape and emptied of library patrons after authorities say Detroit police homicide investigator Edward Gordon Williams II gunned down his wife, Detroit police officer Patricia Catherine Williams, before shooting himself outside Michigan's busiest single-branch library.
“This is terrible. It's just crazy,” said Spencer, who lives near the library. “I came out here to walk and I see this. Canton is a great place to live, and this is a sad day.”
The bodies had been removed before Spencer arrived, but a puddle of blood hadn't yet been washed away by firefighters on the spot where Edward Williams, 36, shot his 33-year-old wife four times, including once in the head, with a .38-caliber snub-nose revolver he then turned to his own head.
The couple, Canton residents, had a troubled past, and township police had gone to their Wall Street home Sunday after an anonymous caller reported a possible domestic incident. Officers found no one at the residence when they arrived.
Canton police Sgt. Mark Gajeski confirmed Patricia Williams had a boyfriend who became worried and called authorities Tuesday morning, saying the Williamses were supposed to meet at the police department on Canton Center Road. They never made it there.
Police aren't sure why the couple ended up parking next door at the library — Edward Williams in his Dodge Charger, Patricia Williams in her BMW — before she was shot around 9:16 a.m. as she ran in the direction of the police station. Several witnesses told investigators they had seen the couple sitting and talking in a park area near the library just prior to the shootings.
Patricia Williams was the mother of a 10-year-old son from a previous marriage to a Westland police officer.
“This is tragic,” Canton Public Safety Director John Santomauro said Tuesday, on a warm, humid day as the last hours of summer ticked away. “These situations are always very tragic, but it hits home even more when it's law enforcement personnel.”
Canton police officers search the car belonging to Edward Williams in the Canton Public Library parking lot, where Canton police say Williams shot his wife, Patricia, then turned the gun on himself. (Bill Bresler staff photographer)
Gajeski said he didn't know whether Edward Williams knew his wife had a boyfriend or whether jealousy could have played a role in the shootings.
During a Canton Township Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night, township Supervisor Phil LaJoy lamented what he called “a very tragic day,” but praised local police and fire emergency medical personnel for responding to 9-1-1 calls “literally in a minute.”
The grisly shooting incident served as a sobering reminder that Canton isn't immune to violence, even though the township earlier this month was cited by the FBI for having the third-lowest crime rate among 16 communities with populations of 50,000-100,000 people in a three-county metro Detroit area.
No one else was injured Tuesday as gunfire erupted while library patrons went to and from one of the township's busiest buildings. The shootings closed the facility for the day, although people could be seen returning books and other materials in a dropoff box.
Laurie Golden, library marketing and communications manager, said a crisis counselor was brought in Wednesday to help employees and patrons. She said patrons typically line up outside the library before it opens, and Tuesday's shootings occurred shortly after the facility opened at 9 a.m.
Patricia Williams was taken to Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, but was already dead. Edward Williams was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Ypsilanti, where police said he was placed on life support until his organs could be harvested.
Like LaJoy, Golden commended township police for an “awesome” and quick response to the incident.
The shootings came as Canton and Detroit police already were planning a soccer match to benefit domestic violence shelters such as First Step, which serves western Wayne County. The game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the High Velocity Sports Center on Michigan Avenue west of Canton Center Road. Admission is $5.
Women who feel threatened and need advice are urged to call First Step anytime at (734) 722-6800 or toll free at (888) 453-5900.
“Unfortunately, these incidents are becoming all too common,” said Judy Ellis, First Step executive director. “We can help to assess the potential for this kind of danger. When dealing with anyone who has any violent history, it should be clear that there is a possibility it could further escalate.”
Violence can escalate, particularly when someone in a relationship feels a loss of control, and Ellis said it's important for potential victims to have a safety plan.
She said friends and family members of victims also are urged to call First Step, which provides assistance for free.
