Report: Gladewater Man Died of “Gunshot Wounds”

GLADEWATER — The 56-year-old man shot by Gladewater police died of “gunshot wounds,” according to a preliminary autopsy report, possibly indicating he was shot more than once. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, the cause of death was listed as homicide. Investigators have not released information about how many times Willie B. Green of Gladewater was shot August 2 by police who said he charged three officers with a knife at a furniture store in the 200 block of South Main Street. All three officers — whose names will not be released until the investigation is complete — were placed on paid administrative leave.

Gladewater Police Chief Farrell Alexander said officers were dispatched to B&C Furniture about 11:15 a.m. August 2 in connection with a report of a fight in the alley behind the business. When police arrived, Alexander said, three officers entered the store and found Green with a knife. “There was only one officer involved in the shooting, and a total of three officers present,” he said last week. “Tasers were used by two separate officers prior to the use of deadly force by the third officer.”