Feb 3, 32 year old William Reddie was shot dead by a police officer, at close range, in front of his three year old son. The officer was accompanying Child Protective Services on a warrant to remove Wills son from the home Why? They said he had smoked marijuana in his home.

 

The corner has since confirmed that Will had NO marijuana in his system, but the damage is done. Little Cameron  was the only person outside of the police and CPS to witness the shooting death of his father, and has been in a foster home since Feb 3, away from his paternal grandparents and family.

 

Since, CPS has told Wills parents they are on some kind of “Abusers List,” and they cannot have him or see him.

 

Wills sister, Monica and her husband moved to Michigan from Nevada after the shooting, set up home and asked CPS to come through the home to give her the OK to take care of him.

 

Crawford County CSP refused, saying they would give him back to his mother, an alcohol, if she could stay sober FOR ONE YEAR.

 

This baby needs his family! Monica has a court case in April 4 and has no attorney. Please call Cindy Pushman and tell her to let Will Reddie's three year old son Cameron live with his grandparents or Aunt. Tell her that we are watching them and we want justice for Cameron!!

 

(989) 348-7691

 

 

The following article was published in the Petosky News
Deputy cleared in Grayling man's fatal shooting

GRAYLING — Investigation into the Feb. 3 shooting death of Grayling resident William Reddie said the 32-year-old appeared agitated and uncooperative with police officers when a deputy from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department shot Reddie once in the chest, killing him at his Grayling Pines apartment.

In a Thursday news release, Roscommon County prosecuting attorney Mark Jernigan, who reviewed the report of the fatal shooting from the Michigan State Police, “determined the use of deadly force by Deputy (John) Klepadlo was justified and therefore, the homicide was justified.”

The deadly shooting occurred when Klepadlo and a Grayling City Police officer accompanied Children’s Protective Services workers to Reddie’s apartment the afternoon of Feb. 3 to assist with the court-ordered removal of Reddie’s 2-year-old son, who Reddie was in the process of attempting to gain permanent custody.

Lead MSP investigator Detective Sgt. Rick Sekely said events leading up to the shooting and attempts to remove the son from the residence began earlier in the day when officers went to Reddie’s apartment in response to a possible domestic disturbance.

Upon arriving at the scene and making contact with Reddie, officers indicated Reddie was on the phone in what seemed to be a heated argument with a woman. Reports indicate Reddie appeared agitated, and when officers stated they could smell the odor of marijuana in the apartment, Sekely said Reddie admitted to having smoked marijuana that morning. While at the residence, officers indicated they observed a minor child at the apartment.

Sekely said officers, following protocol, contacted protective services to report Reddie had been smoking marijuana in the presence of his son.

Child services workers then went to the apartment, and Sekely said they confronted Reddie about consuming marijuana in the home and asked him to take a drug test. Sekely said workers indicated Reddie was agitated, and they felt uncomfortable while at the residence.

An emergency court order to remove the child from the care of Reddie was obtained by Child Protective Services, and they requested assistance from the sheriff’s department and city police.

Sekely said officers entered the apartment with weapons holstered and served in a backup capacity while child services workers informed Reddie of the court order. Sekely said Reddie, who continued to appear agitated, immediately responded by stating that no one was going to take his child.

As Reddie became more agitated and uncooperative, Sekely said, both officers took out their Tasers in an attempt to gain control of the situation. He said police are taught not to depend on the use a Taser in a deadly force situation, and when Reddie allegedly removed a 4-inch pocketknife from his pocket and put it behind his back, the Tasers were replaced by the officers’ duty weapons.

“It’s at this time that weapons come into play,” Sekely said of the officers’ decision to unholster their duty weapons. “It became a split-second decision. All they saw was a knife go behind his back, and then he (Reddie) assumed an aggressive stance.”

Officers then requested Reddie drop the knife, a command Sekely said was allegedly ignored.

Sekely then stated that within the confines of the small living area of the apartment, Reddie lunged, with knife in hand, at officers and the two Children’s Protective Services workers. Klepadlo, using deadly force, then discharged his weapon once, striking Reddie in the chest, killing him.

Sekely said according to toxicology reports there were no traces of alcohol or marijuana in Reddie’s system at the time of his death. He said there were indications of controlled substances in the man’s system, which may or may not have been prescribed to Reddie. Sekely said he was not qualified to comment on whether the drugs, or the amounts in Reddie’s system, could have contributed to his agitated demeanor during his confrontations with police and child services workers.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” Sheriff Kirk Wakefield said of the shooting. “I feel bad for the family and my officer. It’s unfortunate my officer had to be placed in that position. We’re police officers who put our lives on the line every day. It’s very rare when a situation escalates to the scale of what happened here.”

Wakefield said it is an extremely rare occurrence for an officer to discharge his weapon while on duty.

He said to his knowledge the last time one of his deputies discharged his weapon during an altercation was sometime in the mid-1980s.

According to Wakefield, Klepadlo, who had been on administrative leave, was scheduled to return to work this weekend.

The deputy has worked with the sheriff’s department for four years.