Names of officers involved in fatal shooting released

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By Valerie Lough Updated 10:18 AM Wednesday, November 18, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — Two local police officers who were involved in a fatal shooting early Monday morning, Nov. 16, have been identified as Paul Herald and Jimmy Cosby, Chief Stephen Moody confirmed Tuesday.

The victim in the shooting, Todd A. Williamson, 41, died after being shot shortly before 7 a.m. Monday when police responded to a call of a domestic disturbance at 535 Rebecca Drive.

Herald, a 9-year police veteran, fired the shot after a confrontation in which Williamson lunged at the officers with a knife, Moody said.

“Officer Herald fired the shot in defense of his life, striking Mr. Williamson once,” the chief said.

Williamson was hit in the chest and taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center, Fountain Avenue campus, where he was pronounced dead.

Cosby, a 17-year police veteran, and Herald were placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting.

Williamson reportedly came to the home seeking money, and in a recording of a 911 call, a woman is heard identifying Williamson as her son as she described an alleged assault in the home.

“My son’s here and his girlfriend ... they’re hitting us,” the woman told the 911 operator.

When police arrived, Williamson allegedly cut himself in the neck before threatening the officers, according to a police report.

Williamson has faced criminal charges in the past, as recently as an August incident in which he allegedly brandished a knife and stabbed three people, according to Clark County court records. He also pleaded not guilty or no contest in 2001 to charges of robbery and aggravated burglary at the Rebecca Drive home where Monday’s shooting occurred.

Monday’s incident marks the second fatal shooting this year involving local law enforcement. On Jan. 22, Clark County sheriff’s deputies shot Donald L. White, 44, in Huber Heights after White allegedly shot a man in the parking lot of the Springfield Applebee’s.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0360 or vlough@coxohio.com.

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