8/8/2019 Police 'hurting inside'

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By NIKI DOYLETimes Staff Writerniki.doyle@htimes.com

For the second time in justtwo and a half years, a gunmanhas killed a Huntsville police of-ficer in the line of duty.

William Eric Freeman, 36,died at 9:38 a.m. Saturday afterhe was shot in the head at what

first seemed to be a routine traf-fic accident Friday night.

Freeman, of Hazel Green,had been an officer inHuntsvilles south precinct forthree years. He leaves behind hiswife and five children, ages 16months to 9 years.

Huntsville police officers,

wearing black ribbons acrosstheir badges Saturday, visitedwith department chaplains tocope with their grief.

Its a tragedy to even see anofficer hurt, said Mayor Loret-ta Spencer, her voice quiveringas she came out of an hour-longmeeting with officers, but tolose one in the line of duty hurtsall of us.

The officers still have a re-

sponsibly to the community,and theyre doing their jobs, buttheyre hurting inside.

Police arrested Kenneth C.Shipp, 53, and charged himwith capital murder. In Alaba-ma, capital murder suspects arenot granted bond.

Police Chief Henry Reyes saidFreeman and officer Kevin

Lambert were called to a traf-fic accident with injuries on Bai-ley Cove Road just north ofWeatherly Road at 8:43 p.m.Friday.

When the men arrived at 8:51p.m., they found Shipp sittingon a curb. The officers tried to

We break more news at $1.50 Classifieds: 532-4222DECEMBER 16 / 2007

SUNDAY

Our three-part investigation into therelationship between school

performance and poverty concludeswith a look at local high schools: Howthey stack up and what their strategies

are for helping their students findsuccess in the not-so distant real world

that lies beyond the graduation exam.

High schoolstrategies

IN FORUM: Compare your school. PAGE A19

Eric Schultz/Huntsville Times

Chris Bennett, a freshman at Buckhorn High School, works in his English Nine class, designed to get all students reading at grade level.

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Huntsville, AlabamaVol. 98, No. 269, 88 pagesContents 2007, Huntsville Times

Full forecast, A26 Inside Look inside today formore than $189 worth

of coupon savings!

IN PARADE: You can help Oprah and

Denzel (and this magazine) decidehow to give away $500,000 todeserving and needy charities.IN NEWS: U.S. rep booed. PAGE A3 IN NEWS: Speaks to Republican mens group. PAGE A11

Two weeks of internationalclimate talks marked by bitter

disagreements and angryaccusations culminated

Saturday in a last-minute U.S.compromise and an agreement

to adopt a blueprint forfighting global warming by

2009.Now comes the hard part.

Compromise ends

climate talks U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions,R-Mobile, praises the

defense policy billCongress approvedFriday, but he has

scorn for lawmakerswho held up the

budget process to tryto force troop

withdrawals from

Iraq.

Sessions says we really

need to fund war

IN LOCAL: See how you can help. PAGE A14

The United Way Holiday Wishes is still looking for some Santas to make theChristmas season joyous for many needy people in the Huntsville area.

Holiday Wishes still needs you

IN BUSINESS: What students do.PAGE C1

Drake State Technical College

is trying to fill the need formore quality restaurant

workers with its new culinaryarts program.

Cooking upcareers in the

kitchen

In a change of plans,American commanders in Iraq

have decided to keep the bulkof their forces concentrated inBaghdad when the U.S. troop

buildup ends next year,removing extra troops instead

from outlying areas of thecountry. The shift is based onconcerns that Baghdad could

erupt without a strong trooppresence by U.S. forces.

Shift in troopdeployment plans

Police hurting inside

Ellen Hudson/Huntsville Times

Rebecca Dickson places flowers at an impromptu memorial atthe site of the shooting of police officer William Eric Freeman infront of Dickson Orthodontics.

In todays Times Profile of slain officer

and the man arrested in hisshooting, A11

Editorial, A20

Please seeHURTINGonA5

Officer dies of wound; tragic day in city

Photo courtesyHuntsville Police Department

Officer William Eric Freeman

IN News: Improvements seen. PAGE A6