AFTER four days on the run a suspected cop killer was finally hunted down and forced to show his face to camera.
Police wrestled John Williams, 29, to the ground in the woods outside a remote cabin in Maine, USA, where he had been hiding after allegedly gunning down a deputy sheriff.
EPA Exhausted 'cop killer' John Williams is forced to look at the camera after being hunted down
Williams is accused of fatally shooting officer Eugene Cole, 62, early Wednesday before stealing his patrol car and using it to commit a robbery in a convenience store.
Officers used the slain deputy's handcuffs to arrest him in a symbolic gesture, Sheriff Dale Lancaster said.
The arrest brings to an end a lengthy manhunt to find the suspect after he fled into the wilderness, according to Norridgewock police.
Around 150 officers, some spotted with assault rifles, scoured a wooded area where they believed Williams was cornered.
AP:Associated Press Heavily armed officers run through the woods where Williams was found during the four day manhunt
AP:Associated Press Maine State Police pictured yesterday taking the suspect into a police cruiser
Helicopters, cruisers and tactical vehicles prowled the region, making the local community of 3,500 nervous as scores of police officers poured into the area.
A team including FBI agents, game wardens and local police located him outside the cabin.
Local law enforcement agents announced yesterday that they had got their man.
They released an image of Williams shirtless and shoeless with his hands cuffed and head being pulled up to the camera.
FBI Cpl. Eugene Cole, 62, was shot dead on Wednesday
He offered "limited resistance" when being arrested and was taken to the Waterville Police Department for questioning, police said.
Local Tasha Raymond, whose kids have been forced to play indoors for the past four days, said: "I'm just glad it ended peacefully, and no one else got hurt."
The sheriff said: "We can now focus on the important task of respectfully laying our fallen brother to rest. Tonight, the citizens of Somerset County can sleep well and knowing that a dangerous man has been taken off the streets."
Williams is expected to make his initial court appearance in the next few days.
FBI CCTV showed Williams committing a robbery after allegedly gunning down the deputy
AP:Associated Press Williams was shirtless, shoeless and exhausted when he was caught
Police arrest man after seven students were stabbed to death at a school in Mizhi County in the Shaanxi province, China
He is believed to have shot Cpl. Cole after the two had an encounter on a darkened road in Norridgewock.
Cole, 62, had been involved in the arrest of Williams' girlfriend several days earlier, and Williams was said to be worried about being arrested himself for failing to appear in court in Massachusetts on firearm charges the day of the shooting.
Williams was reportedly angry about his girlfriend's arrest and had told a friend that "as of tomorrow, I'll be a fugitive."
The friend said Williams was acting paranoid and noticed he had body armor in one of his bags.
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Cole became the first law enforcement officer in Maine to be killed in the line of duty in nearly 30 years.
He was a 13-year veteran of the department who was known for being respectful and patient in his dealing with people. Lancaster described him an "outstanding employee, one of the finest deputies."
A funeral for the popular deputy is scheduled for May 7, at a civic center in Bangor.
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Officials say John D. Williams spent three days evading 200 law enforcement officers. On Saturday, the fourth day of the manhunt, authorities arrested him using the handcuffs of the sheriff’s deputy they say he fatally shot.
“I thought that it was fitting,” Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster told reporters on Saturday afternoon. “He killed my deputy, Corporal Gene Cole, and he was brought to justice using Cole’s handcuffs.”
Cpl. Eugene Cole was fatally shot sometime after 1 a.m. Wednesday in the small Maine town of Norridgewock. Maine State Police said Williams killed the deputy before stealing his cruiser and committing a theft. Williams was seen on surveillance camera walking inside a convenience store minutes after the shooting.
[An off-duty officer was killed after a stray bullet struck his home, police say]
The deputy’s cruiser was found abandoned a few hours later.
The manhunt covered a large, wooded area near Norridgewock. Lt. Col. John Cote of the Maine State Police said dozens of officers who were divided in teams combed through rough terrain and found evidence, such as fresh foot tracks, suggesting that Williams was in the area. One of the teams spotted Williams at a remote campsite just before 1 p.m. Saturday, police said.
A photo shared on Facebook by Maine State Police showed Williams lying on his stomach with his hands behind his back while an officer grabbed a handful of his hair. Cote said officers needed to take a picture of Williams to confirm his identity, but Williams refused to raise his head.
Williams was not injured, Cote told reporters.
Photos taken by local media showed the heavily tattooed 29-year-old shirtless, barefoot and wrapped from the waist down with what appears to be a yellow tarp as he was being led by authorities.
The sheriff’s office said Cole was a 13-year veteran of the agency.
“Had another officer been a victim in this case, we knew Gene would have been here every day, bringing his best effort to apprehend the suspect,” Lancaster, the sheriff, told reporters. “He would’ve been proud of our efforts.”
Lancaster said Cole’s career epitomized what community policing meant.
“Part of the outpour we’ve had with this community was because of Gene’s interaction with the people here,” Lancaster said. “He was part of this community. He was their deputy sheriff.”
Investigators declined to comment further on why Cole was killed. It’s also unclear what charges Williams will face.
The FBI, along with local and state agencies, had offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Williams’s arrest.
Shortly before Williams was arrested, Cole’s widow urged him to turn himself in.
“Mr. Williams, be assured you’ll be treated the same way Corporal Cole would have treated you if you had given him the opportunity — with dignity and respect,” according to the widow’s statement, ABC affiliate WCJB reported. “We just want you to talk to someone. Please, please talk to us.”
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Cops & Courts
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Timeline: The search for John Williams
A summary of the events leading up to the arrest of John Williams, suspected in the shooting death of Cpl. Eugene Cole in Norridgewock.
Orrin Moody took photos of the arrest across from his home. (Orrin Moody)
FAIRFIELD (WGME) -- The four-day manhunt for John Williams is over.
Williams is accused of killing Sheriff's Corporal Eugene Cole.
Saturday, he was finally captured by law enforcement in Fairfield.
The Somerset County community is now breathing a sigh of relief.
It took four days, but this nationwide manhunt came to an end right off Route 139.
Williams was arrested up in the woods behind a home, and people who live nearby say they can sleep easy knowing an armed and dangerous suspect is no longer a threat.
The signs around town say it all.
John Williams was taken into custody Saturday afternoon, in the woods where police had been searching.
Orrin Moody took photos of the arrest across from his home.
"Just glad he got caught, he looked, looked pretty rough, been hiding out for a few days you know?" Moody said.
Moody says he knew something big was happening when dozens of officers converged on the home across the street.
It's an area he says has a lot of places to hide.
"I know there's some old hunting camps out back there in the woods, and from what I'm hearing that's where he was hiding out in those camps," Moody said.
In a photo of the arrest, Williams is down to the bare bones.
Dereck Deavaney went to high school with Williams and witnessed his arrest.
"It sounds like times were tough for him, and that can drive people to do crazy things, but I don't think anything can justify doing something like that," Deavaney said.
A nationwide manhunt ended in this rural backyard.
These neighbors and this community are breathing a sigh of relief; happy Williams was taken alive.
Since Williams' arrest, almost everyone driving by this scene has waved and honked at these brave officers who have sacrificed so much over the past few days.
Almost everyone says they're happy this ended so peacefully.
