“I was in Iraq for 13 months,” said Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Williams. “I’ve been shot at by much bigger guns.”
In an exclusive interview with The Cortez Journal, Williams attributed his combat experience for being able to remain remarkably calm during a high-speed police chase last week. During the near 45-minute pursuit on Monday, May 11, Williams never raised his voice while communicating with dispatchers. He received about a dozen rounds of gunfire. One bullet even hit the hood of his patrol unit.
“If I was freaking out on the radio. I knew it would only amp up the officers that were coming to help me,” said Williams.
The clash was the first for Williams during his eight-year law enforcement career. Responding to a “gas skip,” Williams initially tried to pull a vehicle over just north of County Road C.1. on U.S. 491. The suspects had other plans. In less than two minutes, the first shots were fired.
“I was obviously in an elevated emotional state,” Williams continued, “but I was trying to remain calm. I didn’t want to get overly excited and make a mistake.”
“If I had been hit, then I probably would have been screaming like a little girl,” he added.
Facing the life or death situation, his wife and children flashed before his eyes during the earliest portions of the pursuit. Because of his training and experience, Williams managed to remain focus.
“Our job is to protect and help people,” he said. “I had to be professional.”
Married since 2005 and father of two girls, 8 and 4, Williams said his family was unaware of the peril until he called to inform his wife. He simply explained that he had survived a shooting and would be late for dinner.
“She just said, ‘Be safe, and I’ll see you when you get home,’” he said.
With an acceptance that anything could happen in the line of duty, Williams and his wife have discussed the dangers associated with the job.
“She doesn’t like people shooting at me, but she understands that I enjoy helping and protecting people,” said Williams.
Days later, Williams said he found himself continuously replaying the chase in his mind.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I could have done anything differently that would have changed the outcome,” he said.
Reader questions
Several readers submitted online queries for Williams, including one person who wanted to know how the pursuit was able to make its way through the highly congested construction zones along U.S. 491 between Towaoc and the New Mexico state line.
“Most of the credit goes to the construction crews,” said Williams.
The most dangerous aspect was approaching the first of three construction sites, Williams said. The only warning through the first construction zone was his patrol lights, sirens and a thumper device, which creates a deep growl that can be physically felt.
“I was alternating between my three sirens and the thumper to warn the construction crew,” said Williams. “That was the scariest moment, because they had no prior warning.”
Williams said he simply followed the suspects’ path, weaving in and out of lanes. Crews from that first construction site subsequently radioed to warn remaining workers, he said.
“The others already had traffic stopped, and were hiding behind bulldozers when we came through,” said Williams.
Another reader asked who was shooting at him – the driver or the passenger?
“I know for a fact that the passenger, the 14-year-old girl, was shooting at me,” said Williams. “But (the driver) also rolled his window down and shot at a Navajo officer.”
Police conspiracy
Williams emphatically dismissed speculation that authorities have attempted to cover up a police-initiated shooting after reports that both suspects died as the result of suicide. To his knowledge, no federal, state or local law enforcement officer ever fired on the suspects.
“I understand the rationale that there was a police conspiracy, but that’s because all of the information wasn’t there and the initial reports were confusing,” said Williams. “There was nothing to cover up.”
Although he didn’t know that the teen was a runaway from Florida and the driver, the girl’s uncle, was wanted in connection to a stolen firearm when launching the pursuit, Williams speculated that the suspects might have concluded that he was aware of the duo’s history.
“I think they panicked,” said Williams.
He said he was sickened that he was unable to do more to alter the outcome.
“The one regret that I have was that we weren’t able to save the girl,” Williams said. “She had her whole life ahead of her.”
Williams, a native of Montana, served in the Army from 2001 to 2005, including as a combat medic with the 25th Infantry Division in Iraq. After his military service, Williams worked as an EMT in Vero Beach, Fla., where he became acquainted with several police officers. He soon gravitated to law enforcement, serving in Florida and Telluride before landing with the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office in October.
“It’s a job that’s bigger than myself,” said Williams. “That’s what drew me to law enforcement.”
tbaker@cortezjournal.com