Lawmen shoot, kill Williamsburg man near Fulton

Law enforcement officers Monday block off access to the scene of a shooting that resulted in the death of Timmy E. Simpson of Williamsburg early Monday morning west of Fulton. Simpson was shot by a Callaway County deputy and a Mssouri State Highway patrolman. The officers reported Simpson leveled a handgun at them. The officers shot and killed Simpson.
Law enforcement officers Monday block off access to the scene of a shooting that resulted in the death of Timmy E. Simpson of Williamsburg early Monday morning west of Fulton. Simpson was shot by a Callaway County deputy and a Mssouri State Highway patrolman. The officers reported Simpson leveled a handgun at them. The officers shot and killed Simpson.

Timothy Earl Simpson, 34, of Williamsburg was shot and killed early Monday morning by law enforcement officers after he leveled a weapon on them while they were responding to reports of shots fired in the Green Meadows Subdivision west of Fulton.

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Lana Roach and Lynn Sites

Callaway County Sheriff Dennis Crane said the Callaway County Sheriff's Office and Troop F of the Missouri State Highway Patrol received reports at about 5:45 a.m. Monday of someone walking in the area firing shots in the Green Meadows Trailer Park.

Crane said a trooper from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and one deputy responded to the call to investigate the shots fired report.

Both officers arrived at Simpson's residence at Lot 59 on Elaine Drive in the trailer park at the same time.

Sgt. Paul J. Reinsch of the patrol said when the patrolman and the deputy arrived they observed Simpson carrying a weapon.

Reinsch said Simpson first pointed his weapon at himself and then in the direction of officers. The officers fired and fatally injured Simpson, Reinsch said.

Crane said both officers were removed from the crime scene and were questioned separately on exactly what occurred. He said the names of both law enforcement officers who fired shots, one county deputy and one state patrolman, will not be released at this time.

Crane said the shooting is being investigated jointly by his department and the patrol's Division of Drugs and Crime unit.

"Callaway County Sheriff's Office and the Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime investigators are both interviewing witnesses, families and people in the neighborhood as well as the officers," Crane said. "We have learned that in the last few days, there have been lots of shots fired. I don't know yet what led to this incident."

Crane said in shooting incidents of this type, all of the weapons used by the officers and the deceased will be confiscated for gathering of evidence to be used in the joint state-county investigation.

Crane said both officers have been placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is completed.

Blood tests will be performed on both the deceased and the law enforcement officers involved in the shooting, Crane said, to determine if any of them were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The last time a Callaway County deputy was involved in shooting a suspect, Crane said, was in November of 2009 when a Callaway County deputy responded to a report of a suicide attempt near Holts Summit. When the officer arrived, the victim began firing at him and the officer returned the fire.

"The Sheriff's Office did the administrative investigation of the incident and to protect objectivity the patrol conducted the criminal investigation of the shooting incident," Crane said. The deputy was cleared of any wrongdoing in that incident and returned to duty.

Crane said he did not know if Simpson was suicidal. "All I know now is that at one point he did have his weapon pointed at himself and then leveled his handgun in the direction of officers. That's when they fired at him. We have a search warrant to work the crime scene as well as inside the trailer," Crane said.

Crane said Simpson and two of his friends were at the residence at the time of the shootings on Monday.

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