A Florida sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot Christmas Eve while he was responding to a domestic violence assault. Cpl. Ray Hamilton was hit by a hail of bullets when Timothy Price-Williams, 43, opened fire. Corporal Hamilton had responded with a special operations team trying to negotiate with the suspect and arrest him with a warrant for a domestic-violence battery charge.
Hamilton leaves behind a wife according to The Daily Mail.
Price-Williams refused to leave and barricaded himself inside his townhouse – located on North Park Boulevard in Wright, Florida – firing several shots through the window. Hamilton was hit during the gunfire on Saturday afternoon around 12:40 pm when he entered an area behind the backyard fence, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The officer was rushed to Destin Hospital in Fort Walton Beach but later succumbed to his wounds and died around 3 pm. The suspect was still inside the home and refused to exit, but once he did eventually leave the premises, his actions caused another deputy to fire at him, striking the suspect’s right arm.
The cop killer was taken to a hospital for his injury before he was locked up and charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the killing of officer Hamilton.
The department said the Special Response Team had been responding to a call from the victim who reported Saturday morning that Price-Williams had slapped her in the face and shoved her during an argument the night before.
Hamilton was a five-year veteran, who served on the Special Response Team and received countless awards for his service.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said the grief from losing Hamilton is devastating, calling him a “ray of sunshine” who was “dedicated to protecting others.”
“We appreciate the endless stream of words of support that have come in for his family and his co-workers as we face this heartbreaking loss of a profoundly loved and respected friend, public servant, and hero,” Aden said.
Hamilton’s death makes him the 61st officer killed by gunfire in 2022.
