Ohio man shot dead by police was celebrating new year with rifle, wife says

James Williams was said to be taking part in local tradition of firing celebratory shots when killed by officer in Canton

The wife of an Ohio man fatally shot by police minutes into the new year has said he had been firing an assault-style rifle to celebrate the arrival of 2022 when an officer opened fire without warning.

Marquetta Williams told the Repository newspaper her 46-year-old husband, James, was using an AR-15 rifle that belonged to her to fire celebratory shots early on Saturday outside their home in Canton.