Deputy shot dead during traffic stop identified

HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI – Police have identified the Michigan sheriff’s deputy fatally shot while on duty in Hillsdale County.

Congressman William Henry Butler Jr., 51, died Thursday, June 27.

Outside the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, June 28, flowers covered the sheriff’s car with flowers in memory of Butler. “I love you,” reads a balloon on the front of the cruiser.

Eric Michael Fiddler shot Butler as Butler stopped a vehicle around 2 p.m. in the area of ​​Beecher and Lamb Roads near Osseo, eight miles southeast of Hillsdale in Jefferson Township, County police reported. Michigan State.

Butler was taken to a local hospital but died of his injuries, according to state police.

Fiddler, 34, initially fled the scene on foot but was later found in a field around 6:15 p.m. a few miles from the traffic stop site, near the intersection of Culbert and Osseo roads, and killed in a shootout with officers, police said.

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

Related: Michigan deputy, suspect die in rural shooting

Police departments across the state offered their condolences to the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office.

“Rest assured. We have surveillance from here,” the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook.

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 the line of duty was ambushed while chasing stolen car, sheriff says

“These tragedies remind us of the daily risks law enforcement faces,” the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook. “We stand with our brothers and sisters in law enforcement and extend our deepest condolences to the personal and professional families of both deputies.”

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

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

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

Police said Fiddler had an active arrest warrant at the time of the shooting, but did not specify the alleged crime.

State police are continuing their investigation.

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