Deputy fatally shot during traffic stop identified as Iraq War veteran, father of 5

HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI – Police have identified the Michigan sheriff's deputy shot and killed while on the job in Hillsdale County.

Deputy Sheriff William Henry Butler Jr., 51, died Thursday, June 27. Butler spent 12 years with the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office. He was an Iraq War veteran, husband and father of five, according to police and his obituary.

On Friday, June 28, outside the sheriff's office, flowers wrapped in blue paper covered Butler's police cruiser, now a memorial. “I love you” could be read on a balloon at the front of the vehicle and his photo was hung on the dashboard.

Eric Michael Fiddler shot Butler during a traffic stop at 2:15 p.m. in the area of ​​Beecher and Lamb Roads near Osseo, eight miles southeast of Hillsdale in Jefferson Township, the police reported. Michigan State Police.

The driver of the vehicle, a 33-year-old man, was arrested by a detective sergeant who initiated the traffic stop. Butler arrived on scene to assist the sergeant, police said.

Fiddler, still in the vehicle, refused to identify himself and fought with officers who tried to remove him from the vehicle, police said. Fiddler pulled out a handgun hidden in his waistband and shot Butler before running as officers returned fire, police said.

The detective sergeant grabbed Butler and rushed him to a local hospital, but he died from his injuries, according to state police.

Fiddler, 34, was found hours later, around 6:15 p.m., in a field a few miles northwest of the traffic stop, near the intersection of Culbert and Osseo roads, and was killed in a shootout with officers, police said.

Fiddler was ordered to surrender, but pulled out a gun and fired at Michigan State Police troopers, police said. The troopers returned fire and Fiddler died at the scene, police said.

No soldiers were injured in the shooting, in a rural part of the county where homes are separated by woods and vast expanses of farm fields.

Related: Michigan deputy, suspect die in rural shooting

Butler is the first Hillsdale County sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty since Deputy Harland O. Wood, who died in 1930. Deputy Nelson R. Cook was killed in 1903, according to a memorial stone outside the office. No other names are listed.

This is the second fatal police-involved shooting in a week in Michigan. Another officer, Oakland County Deputy Sheriff Bradley J. Reckling, was killed in the line of duty while pursuing a stolen vehicle.

Related: Deputy killed in line of duty was ambushed while chasing stolen car, sheriff says

Law enforcement agencies across the state sent their condolences to the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office.

“Rest easy. We are monitoring the situation from here,” the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook.

“These tragedies remind us of the daily risks facing law enforcement,” the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. “We support our brothers and sisters in law enforcement and offer our deepest condolences to the personal and professional families of both deputies. »

The Genesee County Sheriff's Office, in far northern Hillsdale County, is also mourning the loss. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to another Michigan law enforcement family. Tough week,” Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson wrote.

Fiddler had a criminal history that included an open case for theft and several older cases dating to 2018 for resisting arrest and drug use, court records show.

He also faced firearms charges in one of the 2018 cases, but that charge was dismissed with his guilty plea, records show.

State police are continuing their investigation.

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