Salisbury Police Department IDs officer who shot suspect

By Shavonne Potts

spotts@salisburypost.com

Police have identified the officer who shot a suspect during a raid last week as Detective Eric Williams.

Williams is a former federal agent and East Spencer police chief who is in his second stint with the Salisbury Police Department.

He remains on administrative duty, Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said Monday.

Williams was placed on administrative duty following the Thursday night shooting, which happened as the department's Special Response Team was serving arrest warrants for Allen Gooden at his Hillcrest Place home.

Gooden, 51, was shot once in the side with a shotgun blast as officers entered the home.

Gooden was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center and later transferred to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. Wilhelm said Gooden remained at the hospital on Monday, though a hospital official said he was not listed in the facility's computer files.

Williams went to work for the Salisbury Police Department in August 2007 after leaving his post as East Spencer's police chief in June of that year, less than 17 months after being hired. He also has worked as a special agent in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and with the N.C. Highway Patrol. He previously worked at the Salisbury Police Department in early 2000, Wilhelm said.

His current status essentially means he is doing office work, which is typical when an officer is involved in a shooting.

"He'll be on administrative duty until we finish our in-house investigation. The in-house investigation determines if our policy was followed. It's not for a criminal investigation," Wilhelm said.

Inside the home at 217 Hillcrest Place, which is near Krispy Kreme on West Innes Street, police found 12 adults, two middle-school-aged children and a 5-year-old. Officials say when they arrived, some of the adults in the home were smoking cocaine and marijuana.

Police also found 7.3 grams of crack cocaine in the form of 35 rocks, 8 grams of powder cocaine, 57 grams of marijuana and $519 in cash. The estimated value of the cocaine found at the scene was around $5,000.

Charges are pending against Gooden. More charges may be filed against other people in the home.