Sheriff’s officer from New River killed in shooting

MARC BUCKHOUT ~ MANAGING EDITOR~ 1/11/2012

Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy William Coleman, a New River resident, was shot and killed in the line of duty Sunday after responding to a call at an Anthem strip mall at approximately 4 a.m.
Upon arriving in response to an alarm going off at the scene of an Anthem pediatrician’s
office, located at 3654 W Anthem Way Ste B114, at the intersection of Anthem Way and Gavilan Peak Parkway, the veteran deputy approached a van in the parking lot.
Officers on scene said the suspect appeared as though he was sleeping in his vehicle. When they tapped on the window the driver, identified as 30-year-old Drew Ryan Maras, exited the vehicle with an assault rifle and opened fire on Coleman, hitting him below his bullet proof vest.
Maras was then shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire with two other deputies, neither of whom was injured
MCSO PIO officer Jeffrey Sprong, said typically an alarm would only warrant one officer responding, but that because there was an indication that glass had been broken
at the business that multiple officers were sent with the expectation that a robbery may have taken place rather than simply a false alarm.
The 20-year veteran officer, and father with two young children, became the first Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputy slain in the line of duty since 1995.
Yavapai Sherriff’s office was conducting ballistics evidence Monday to see if Maras may have also been responsible for the death of a vacationing couple near Sedona on Friday. A high-powered rifle was also used in those murders.
The 100 Club is accepting donations through their website at 100club.org. Locally the group Hands Across Anthem is having an event from 2 – 5 p.m., Jan. 22 at the corner of Anthem Way and Gavilan Peak. Donations collected at the event will help support Coleman’s widow and two young children. An account has been set up in Deputy Coleman’s memory through Desert Schools Federal Credit Union.  Donations can be made to the Deputy Coleman Memorial Fund acct # 6000123586, Routing # 122187238. 
On Monday a makeshift memorial had gone up near the scene of the incident.
Among those leaving flowers were Don and Ronna Harvey, fellow MCSO officers and
New River residents.
“I’ve known him for 20 years,” Don said of Coleman. “He loved his job. He was sharp. He was good at what he did.”
Ronna agreed adding, “He was always helping people, whether it was at work or just as a good neighbor.”
The two explained that all off Coleman’s fellow coworkers will have the opportunity to receive counseling to deal with his loss.
“Sometimes you just understand that what we do is a little bit like going to Vegas,” Don said. “You can play the odds, but as routine as some things seem sometimes you can walk into trouble and unfortunately there’s no way you can defend yourself against it.”