On May 6, 2016, Officer Mader received a 2AM call about an African American male threatening to kill himself with a knife. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Mader found 21 year old Ronald “RJ” Williams “visibly distraught” standing beside a car with a silver pistol.
As Officer Mader approached Williams, he tried to talk Williams out of committing suicide:
“We got a call about a domestic,” Mader said to Williams, as told to Huffington Post. “Do you wanna tell me what’s going on?”
“Nah, man. Nothing’s going on,” said Williams, according to Mader. “You can leave.”
As Mader continued to move around the vehicle, he said, he saw that Williams had his hands behind his back. Mader said that he commanded Williams to show his hands, and that after several orders, Williams complied.
Officer Mader drew his weapon and demanded Williams drop his pistol:
“Just shoot me,” Williams told the officer.
Mader says his military training is what stopped him from shooting Williams.
Mader said he concluded that Williams was attempting to commit suicide by cop.“I’m not gonna shoot you, brother,” the Afghanistan war veteran recalled saying. “Just put down the gun.”
“Nah man. Seriously ― just shoot me,” Williams repeated, according to Mader.
Continued on next page.