Image courtesy of the Hoover Police Department.
Hoover Police Department
Hoover Police Department
Two Hoover police officers who fatally shot an armed man in Bluff Park Tuesday evening while investigating a domestic violence complaint have been placed on administrative leave, a police spokesman said today.
The shooting occurred after the Hoover 911 Center received a call at 5:34 p.m. Tuesday reporting a domestic disturbance at a home on Valley Street in Hoover, according to a release from Capt. Gregg Rector, public information officer for the Hoover Police. 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. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation has identified the man as 53-year-old William Russell Smith of Hoover.
Police haven’t released the names of the officers involved in the shooting. Rector said the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office was contacted and responded to the scene. Investigators from the State Bureau of Investigation will be the lead agency looking into the incident. The officers involved will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Rector said.
Any additional information, including his identity, will have to be provided by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office or the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, Rector said.
