ORLANDO, Fla. (WESH) — For hours on Thursday, Angie sat in a daze outside her neighbor’s house.
Down the street, her partner of 22 years, William Sellers was dead, shot by six law enforcement officers.
In her mind she’s asking, how did it come to this?
Officers pleaded with Sellers to put his weapon down.
“Please, put the gun down, we’re just trying to help you,” they said.
It started when Sellers called the vet crisis hotline. He was a Vietnam veteran, and family members say he suffered from PTSD and anxiety.
What he said in the hotline call was so alarming, they called law enforcement. Then what started as a wellness check, turned into mass confusion when police say Sellers produced a gun.
Law enforcement officers from both Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office begged Sellers to drop his gun.
“We know you are struggling, we are all struggling, put down the gun please,” one was heard saying.
Some were veterans themselves, but officials say when Sellers made a threatening move, all six opened fire.
Angie said she had no idea what happened until it was all over.
Family members say Sellers had been getting treatment, but say sometimes it was hit and miss. Sometimes there would be a no show or they would get canceled at the last minute.
Sellers’ family says he was a proud Navy man.