PENTRESS — A 911 recording reveals details of the 15-minute sequence during which Monongalia County deputy Jacob Coe arrived at a trailer in Pentress, encountered a knife-wielding suspect and subsequently reported shots fired.
Detectives continue to investigate the April 17 incident that left 46-year-old John “Butch” Stewart Jr. shot dead by a sheriff’s deputy.
The 911 audio and emergency call logs were obtained by The Dominion Post through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Stewart’s sister, Jessica, had phoned 911 seeking help removing him from her mobile home for not paying rent.
Stewart said her brother went “berserk” and kicked her out of his room when she tried to evict him. She told the 911 operator he threatened “to stab me and then the cops if any cops come to get him.”
Sheriff Perry Palmer, citing an internal investigation, declined to identify Coe as the shooter. Palmer confirms only that the officer involved in the shooting remains on paid administrative leave.
Deputy Coe was dispatched at 6:23 p.m. and arrived fewer than three minutes later, while Jessica Stewart was still on the phone with 911, records show.
About 15 minutes later, at 6:41 p.m., Coe reported shots fired. His next communication came 55 seconds later — “he is OK at this time/start EMS.”
At 6:45 p.m., Coe reported “everything still 10-4/suspect down.”
Soon, another 11 deputies responded, and it appears Chief Deputy Al Kisner was the ranking officer on the scene.
By 9:32 p.m., Coe had returned to the sheriff’s station, call logs show.
In a news release the day after the shooting, Palmer said Butch Stewart refused verbal commands, caused a confrontation requiring the deputy use pepper spray and pulled a knife on the deputy causing an immediate threat.
After Coe arrived on the scene, the deputy asked MECCA 911 to run a search on two suspects. The call log describes the 911 operator hearing Coe telling a male to wait and that he would speak to him in a second before the line disconnected.
In her 911 call, Jessica Stewart said she didn’t know if Butch had a weapon, and she was unsure if he had been drinking or using drugs.
Butch’s father, John Stewart Sr., in an interview with The Dominion Post, called the shooting an unnecessary escalation of force. Stewart Sr. said the deputy attempted to mace his son, but missed. Stewart Sr. admitted he did not see the shooting.
