A former policeman, who was fired after refusing to shoot a suicidal man, has filed a lawsuit against the police department that sacked him.
Stephen Mader, 26, was called out to reports of a man with a knife who was threatening to hurt himself last May.
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When he arrived at the scene, he found 21-year-old Ronald 'RJ' Williams, who was 'visibly distraught', standing beside a car.
Mader approached Williams and said: "We got a call about a domestic. Do you want to tell me what's going on?" To which Williams replied: "Nothing's going on. You can leave."
It was then Mader spotted the man had his hands behind his back and asked him to show them.
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"When we brought his hands from behind his back, he had a silver pistol in his right hand," Mader told HuffPost.
"I drew my duty weapon and I'm telling him, 'Put the gun down, put the gun down.'"
Williams then demanded, "Just shoot me." Mader told him he wouldn't do that, and asked him to put down the gun. However, Williams was insistent, asking Mader once more to 'just shoot' him.
The cop and Williams continued to talk, with Mader pleading with Williams to surrender his weapon. As the two men talked, Williams spotted a second police car heading over to them.
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As the officers approached, Williams began 'randomly waving his gun between Mader and the others', according to the HuffPost.
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Mader said: "Within seconds, shots were fired and the last shot fatally wounded Mr. Williams to the head."
After the incident, Williams' gun was found to be without bullets.
Officer Ryan Kuzma, who fired the fatal shot, was placed on administrative leave, as well as Mader and another cop. Upon investigation by Hancock County prosecutors, the shooting was determined to be 'justified'.
One month after the shooting Mader was told he would be terminated from his contract, because he "failed to eliminate a threat" by not shooting Williams, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Yesterday, Mader filed a lawsuit against the city of Weirton in which he claimed he was wrongfully terminated.
Mader's lawyer Timothy O'Brien said: "The City of Weirton's decision to fire officer Mader because he chose not to shoot and kill a fellow citizen - when he believed that he should not use such force - not only violates the Constitution, common sense and public policy, but incredibly punishes restraint.
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"When given the tragic, and, far too frequent unnecessary use of deadly force, such restraint should be praised, not penalized.
"To tell a police officer, when in doubt, either shoot to kill or get fired, is a choice that no police officer should ever have to make and is a message that is wrong and should never be sent."
According to the suit, Mader will be seeking damages in excess of $75,000 (£58,220).
Sources: HuffPost, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette