CLAY, W.Va. — State police troopers shot and killed a Clay County man while trying to execute a search warrant Wednesday morning.
State police spokesman First Sgt. Michael Baylous said the agency’s Special Response Team and a team from the federal Drug Enforcement Unit knocked on the door of Maysel Laurel Road home at 6:05 a.m.
“When the Special Response Team knocked and announced their presence the suspect didn’t open the door for them, so they had to breach the door,” Baylous said. “When they did breach the door they encountered the suspect with a weapon pointed toward the troopers.”
Troopers fired and the man was killed. He was identified as Richard Dale Kohler, 66, from Maysel.
“Troopers had to respond to the immediate threat,” Baylous said.
Police were attempting to serve the search warrant as part of an ongoing drug investigation. Baylous said once they saw the man with the gun pointed at them there was no time for negotiations.
“When something like that happens you immediately revert back to your training and your instincts and your knowledge that you’ve accumulated through the years and you respond to the threat,” Baylous said.