JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Thursday, June 27, during a traffic stop in southern central Michigan, the second deputy in the state to be killed in the line of duty in less than a week.
The shooting happened just after 2:15 p.m. in Jefferson Township -- a Hillsdale County community roughly 10 miles north of the Ohio border and about 20 miles south of Jackson. According to authorities, a deputy sergeant with the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle after recognizing the driver had active warrants. A second deputy -- identified as William Henry Butler Jr. -- arrived at the scene as backup. After the driver was taken into custody and placed in a patrol vehicle, Butler attempted to arrest the passenger -- identified as Eric Michael Fiddler. Police said Fiddler pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Butler before running off.
The deputy sergeant rushed Butler to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries. He was 51 years old.
After a four-hour manhunt that involved multiple law enforcement agencies, police dogs and aerial teams, police located Fiddler in a field about two miles away from the initial scene.
Michigan State Police said they ordered Fiddler to surrender, but he instead fired at the troopers, who returned fire. Fiddler died at the scene.
Michigan State Police Fifth District -- which covers Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties -- is investigating the shooting that killed Fiddler, while Michigan State Police First District is investigating the shooting that killed Butler.
Michigan State Police said Butler worked with the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office for 12 years and was a veteran who served in the Iraq War. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
Butler is the second sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty in Michigan within a week. Five days prior, on Saturday, June 22, Oakland County deputy Bradley Reckling was fatally shot. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and three children.
Three people connected to Reckling’s death have been taken into custody.