A former police officer, Steven Mader (center), who was fired for not shooting a black suspect during a standoff in Virginia. Mader was the first responding officer to a 2016 call involving Mr. Williams, a 23-year-old black man who he believed to be suicidal. Mader made the determination that Williams did not pose an immediate threat to him.
Mader had said that Williams “wasn’t angry” and he wasn’t aggressive, he didn’t seem in a position to want to use a gun against anybody. He never pointed it at me. I didn’t perceive him as an imminent threat.”
When two veteran officers arrived on the scene, they virtually killed Williams almost immediately. Mader was then fired for not killing the suspect. He has won a settlement for a wrongful termination suit in which the department paid him $175,000.
What does this say about the attitude among the police? This has to stop.
