Wills v. Weaver Police Department, The et al

On February 24, 2025, in Weaver, Alabama, officers from the Weaver Police Department responded to a mental health welfare check involving 42-year-old Kevin Wills. His family had called 911 seeking help during his psychological crisis. Officers confronted Wills, who was holding a small garden trowel, and within minutes discharged their weapons, striking him multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The estate of Kevin Wills, administered by his mother Mary Wills, filed a federal lawsuit alleging that officers used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, failed to intervene, and that the department maintained a custom of inadequate training for mental health crises. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

As of June 2026, the case remains in active litigation in the Northern District of Alabama. Discovery is underway and no trial date has been set. The court has denied in part a motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity, allowing the excessive force and municipal liability claims to proceed.

Whether the officers' use of deadly force was objectively reasonable given the perceived threat, and whether the Weaver Police Department's failure to provide adequate crisis intervention and de-escalation training constituted deliberate indifference to constitutional rights.

The shooting prompted renewed scrutiny of police responses to mental health emergencies in small-town departments. Advocacy groups used the case to push for statewide legislation mandating crisis intervention training, and the incident became a focal point in discussions about racial disparities in police use of force, as Wills was an African American man.