Hoover Police had investigated several domestic dispute calls against a Bluff Park man prior to incident Tuesday

March 11, 2015 10:29 PM

Image courtesy of the Hoover Police Department.

Hoover Police had investigated domestic dispute complaints several times in recent weeks against a 53-year-old man who was fatally shot at his home in Bluff Park by two officers responding to another call Tuesday night, a police spokesman said today.

The shooting took place at a house at 720 Valley Street in Hoover’s Bluff Park community, said Hoover Police Capt. Gregg Rector, public information officer. The man, who died at UAB Hospital after being shot by the officers, was identified by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office as William Russell Smith, 53.

The officers fired their weapons after encountering Smith armed with a handgun while they were investigating a domestic disturbance call made at 5:34 p.m. Tuesday to the Hoover 911 Center, according to a release from Rector.

It was the latest in a series of domestic disputes to the home involving Smith that Hoover police had received in recent weeks, Rector said today:

On February 21 at 1 p.m. officers responded to 720 Valley Street on a domestic dispute between William Russell Smith and his 53-year-old ex-wife. The altercation was verbal only and no arrests were made.
On February 21 at 7:54 p.m. officers responded to 720 Valley Street on a domestic dispute between William Russell Smith and his 53-year-old ex-wife. The altercation was verbal only and no arrests were made.
On February 22 at 1:55 p.m. officers responded to 720 Valley Street on a domestic dispute between William Russell Smith and his 25-year-old-daughter. The altercation was verbal only and no arrests were made.
On February 23 at 4:42 p.m. William Russell Smith was arrested for Theft 3rd degree at Wal-Mart on John Hawkins Parkway. He was observed concealing an 18 volt Black and Decker battery and leaving the store without paying. He posted bond and was released from the Hoover City Jail at 8 p.m. on same date.

After responding officers were unable to locate any of the parties involved, the witness who initially called 911 told police that before the officers’ arrival, three vehicles had left the house where the incident occurred. At 6:07 p.m., an officer located those same three vehicles outside the nearby Shades Mountain Plaza, Rector said. They interviewed three individuals who were involved in the earlier disturbance, including a woman with minor injuries.

Officers then returned to the house on Valley Street to interview the fourth individual who was involved in the domestic disturbance. As they approached the home, the officers encountered an armed man. Two Hoover officers fired their weapons, striking the armed man. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Some neighbors who lived nearby in Bluff Park said there had heard plenty of fights and disturbances at the home, located across the street from Bluff Park United Methodist Church, since the family moved in five months ago. “Police had been there plenty of times,” said a neighbor who only identified himself by his first name, John.

Smith lived in the home with his 25-year-old daughter, her husband, and his two grandchildren, John said. Police have not said if the woman who suffered a cut after the domestic disturbance with Smith was his daughter.

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey declined to comment about the shooting, saying he like the Hoover Police will let the Alabama Bureau of Investigation handle the investigation. The officers will remain on administrative leave pending the investigation.