The man shot and killed by police Sunday after slashing an officer served with the Marines, deploying to Iraq in 2009, military records show.
Exactly how William Clark’s path led him from his service, which ended in 2013, to his confrontation with police at a Roberta Road home late Sunday morning remained unclear Tuesday.
Rotterdam police, state police and the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office, however, have scheduled a press conference for this morning to discuss the case further.
Clark, 30, of 1061 Roberta Road, attacked a Rotterdam police officer with a knife just before noon Sunday after officers responded to the home for a call. Clark slashed the officer on the head. A Rotterdam officer then shot and killed Clark, police said.
The injured officer, with 16 years on the job, required stitches to close his head wound, but he was treated and released from the hospital Sunday night.
Neither of the two Rotterdam officers present have been identified publicly. Police have not said which one fired. A Schenectady County sheriff’s deputy also was in the house at the time of the incident.
State police are investigating at the request of the Rotterdam police.
A neighbor on Sunday said Clark is believed to have moved into the home just a week prior to the incident.
A Rotterdam police spokesman offered no new information Tuesday ahead of this morning’s press conference, but he confirmed Clark’s full name as William J. Clark III.
Military records indicate Clark served in the Marines from June 2008 until May 2013. The Marines listed his home as Albany.
Clark deployed to Iraq in April 2009 with Alpha Company, Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. He returned home with his Rochester-based company that October.
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle wrote in October 2009 after Alpha Company’s return that they served at Al-Taqaddum, southwest of Baghdad, and provided security for convoys in western Iraq.
Clark achieved the rank of lance corporal in July 2011 and received a total of six awards, according to Marine records. Clark received the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and a Certificate of Appreciation.
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
