Internal probe clears Parkersburg Police officer

Fatal shooting still under investigation by West Virginia State Police

PARKERSBURG -- The Parkersburg Police officer who shot and killed a stabbing suspect who allegedly charged at him has been cleared in an internal investigation and returned to regular duty.

Chief Joe Martin identified the officer Monday as Patrolman M.E. Stewart, who has been with the department for 20 months.

Stewart was temporarily reassigned from the patrol division, per department policy, after the May 23 incident in which 34-year-old Rufus James Ramsey III of Parkersburg was fatally shot. The officer had responded to a call at the Oakwood Village apartments on Beverly Street, where Ramsey reportedly stabbed a neighbor multiple times.

Martin said Ramsey forced his way into the 60-year-old woman's apartment.

"She was able to escape her apartment out the back door," he said.

The woman fled about 40 yards in a grassy common area before collapsing, the chief said. Another tenant exited an apartment, with her dog, to check on the wounded woman.

The suspect emerged and threatened the second woman with his weapon, severing the leash by which she was holding her dog, Martin said. The woman and her pet fled back inside.

Stewart found Ramsey a short time later, still armed with what the chief described as a meat cleaver. He ordered the man to drop the weapon, which Martin said the suspect did briefly before picking it back up and rushing toward the officer, who fired a single shot at him.

"We've completed the internal investigation and found no policy errors," Martin said Monday.

A separate investigation is being conducted by the West Virginia State Police. Martin said he expects the incident to be presented to a future Wood County grand jury.

A grand jury heard evidence in January regarding an October incident in which a Wood County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed 21-year-old Paul M. Bailey, who was among multiple individuals that attacked him when he responded to a disturbance report on Stillwell Road in Walker. The grand jury determined sheriff's Lt. Jason Allen's actions were justified.

Martin said Monday the stabbing victim has been released from the hospital.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.