Martin Man Held Without Bond After Shooting at Deputies

William King

By RON PARK

ron@magicvalleypublishing.com

William Anthony King, 31, of Martin was arrested after allegedly shooting at police officers during a Sunday night incident in Martin.

King, who is currently being held without bond at the Weakley County Jail, has been charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder against a law enforcement officer, three counts of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated criminal trespass, resisting arrest, evading arrest, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

According to a press release from the Weakley County Sheriff’s Office, Deputies Brown and Roberts responded to 280 Dunlap Road in Martin to do a welfare check on King.

Upon arrival, deputies tried repeatedly to get King to come out of a small shed on the property, but when those attempts failed, deputies decided to clear a small trailer near the shed. While deputies were clearing the building, King came out of the shed in an irate state holding a hammer in his left hand.

The report states that, at one point, King pulled a handgun from his waistband, ran toward the residence, fired one shot in the direction of Deputies Brown and Roberts, and continued running toward the rear of the residence.

Going around the other side of the residence, deputies found that a back door had been kicked in. Fearing a possible hostage situation, deputies opted not to enter the residence at that time and instead set up a parameter until backup units arrived.

At around this time, officers with the Martin Police Department and Weakley County Strategic Response Team (SRT) and department administrators began to arrive on the scene.

An older female resident contacted authorities from inside the residence, and officers were able to extract her from the building safely.

Officers attempted to contact King through a PA system and phone calls, but King did not respond. After this went on for a few hours, SRT officers deployed CS gas as they entered the residence.

King was found in an upstairs closet, at which time he charged Deputy Sanders and tried to gain control of his service weapon. A Martin police officer then used a taser gun to subdue King, who was taken into custody.

Inside the closet where King had been hiding, officers found a handgun loaded with seven rounds of 45-caliber ammunition.

King was scheduled to appear in Weakley County General Sessions Court on Wednesday, Oct. 12.