Man accused of killing Okaloosa deputy threatened situation would 'turn into another Waco'
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office's decision to deploy its Special Response Team to the North Park Boulevard townhome where Timothy Price-Williams had barricaded himself was made based on his criminal history and a solid assumption that he was armed.
Holding a warrant for an arrest on the charge of battery, a crisis negotiation team communicated with Price-Williams from both outside the home and via cell phone, an arrest report said. He asserted that the deputies "had no right to show up at his residence" and warned officers "that the situation would 'turn into another Waco'" — a reference to a deadly 1993 standoff between a religious cult and federal agents.
After tear gas was utilized in an attempt to extract Price-Williams from the townhome, Price-Williams fired upon deputies and killed Cpl. Ray Hamilton, a 34-year-old deputy with just over a year's experience as an SRT member.
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When Price-Williams did exit the home, he did so "in a manner that caused another deputy to fire on him," the arrest report charging him with murder said. Price-Williams sustained a gunshot wound to the upper arm, but "continued to be belligerent with deputies after being taken into custody," according to the report. He was treated for his injury before being remanded to custody,
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has been left reeling by the death of Hamilton, a five-year veteran of the agency who in a Tuesday press conference Sheriff Eric Aden referred to as "probably the most popular field training officer we've ever had."
At the press conference, Aden said that many questions surrounding Price-Williams and the shooting incident itself will be better answered following a Sheriff's Office investigation and a criminal case being brought to the First Judicial Circuit's State Attorney's Office for prosecution.
Court documents show the stand off began on the morning of Dec. 24. A woman, listed as the owner of the townhome where Price-Williams was residing, had called to report an altercation between herself and Price-Williams the night before, during which he had pushed her, broken items inside the residence and taken her cell phone. She wanted to file a restraining order.
A decision was made to deploy the SRT "based on the defendant's criminal history and the victim's assertion that the defendant had guns in the house," according to the arrest report.
The arrest report states the team "was forced to use a form of tear gas" in its effort to safely extract Price-Williams from the residence, and the shot that killed Hamilton was fired after he and two other deputies "stilled" themselves in a position behind a back yard fence to assist in forming a safe perimeter.
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Price-Williams' extensive criminal history, alluded to in the arrest report, had most recently resulted in a criminal summons being issued for him on Aug. 24. It was issued, court records show, when Price-Williams failed to respond to several efforts by deputies to bring him in to answer to an allegation he had committed battery in early July against a co-worker.
The accuser in the incident had told officers that a very drunk Price-Williams had pushed him backwards over a chain as he was attempting to help Price-Williams, who he listed in a police report as his boss, to the end of a dock "to get a ride back to their boat." The accuser was injured badly enough that he requested to be taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment.
There are no court or jail records to indicate Price-Williams had ever been taken into custody following the issuance of the criminal summons.
Court records filed after Price-Williams' arrest on the homicide charge also indicate that he was facing several charges in Santa Rosa County, including DUI and driving on a suspended or revoked license.
The same woman who called authorities on the day of Hamilton's death to report the Dec. 23 altercation between herself and Price-Williams had sought a protective injunction against him in July of 2020, records show. She reported at that time she and Price-Williams had gotten into a "belligerent conversation" and he had injured her when he shoved her.
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She also spoke in the 2020 injunction application of an incident two months earlier in which Price-Williams had acted violently toward her.
Despite her testimony that Price-Williams abused alcohol and that she felt unsafe around him, the woman's initial request for protective injunction was declined when a judge decided she was not in imminent danger. A hearing in the case was cancelled three days before it was to be held at the request of the victim, who reported Price-Williams had sent her a text "stating he won't do this again."
In 2018, a local man sought an injunction for protection from repeat violence saying Price-Williams had been repeatedly threatening him and his family. It stated that the man believed Price-Williams, who was listed as living in Texas at the time, to be proficient in the use of weapons, including assault-style rifles.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Shooter of Okaloosa County Florida deputy had criminal history
