One day after an officer from his department was involved in the shooting death of a hatchet-wielding Selma man, Selma Chief of Police William Riley said standard criminal and internal investigations will determine whether officers followed proper procedure.

While the Alabama Bureau of Investigation is handling the criminal investigation, Riley said his thoughts remain with the families of both men involved in Wednesday’s shooting.

“Any loss of life is a terrible thing,” Riley said. “My heart goes out to the gentleman’s family that was killed and to the officer’s family, because now you have families that are in a solemn place. We offer our prayers to the deceased persons family.”

Officers responded to a disturbance call at Church’s Chicken on Broad Street at 2:19 p.m. Wednesday. When the officers arrived, they found a man, later identified as 73-year-old Ananias Shaw of Selma, in an abandoned building at the intersection of Washington Street and Griffin Avenue.

Riley said the individual produced a hatchet and charged at one of the officers who responded, at which point the officer fired one shot at the victim. Shaw was pronounced dead shortly after he was struck by the bullet.

Riley said officers in the Selma Police Department are trained on when it is necessary to use deadly force, as well as how best to use that force to stop a suspect from harming themselves or those around them.

“That training not only involves you firing a weapon and qualifying, but it also deals with understanding the use of deadly force,” Riley said. “We do not shoot to kill. Our officers, like most, are trained to shoot center mass. You are not trained to shoot at an arm or at a leg, because these appendages are always moving and you are trained to shoot center mass (torso) because that is the largest part of the body.”

Riley said aiming for a suspect’s torso lessens the chance a bullet could miss the intended target and strike an innocent bystander.

The use of deadly force, such as the discharging of a firearm, is authorized for a very limited number of scenarios police officers encounter, Riley said.

“It’s not used to protect property,” Riley said. “It is used to safeguard your life, the public’s life and your partner’s life. That is when deadly force is used.”

Riley could not speak about specific details pertaining to Wednesday’s shooting, but said officers in his department are trained on how to evaluate a situation and determine if the use of deadly force is warranted.

“You have many people killed every year with sharp instruments; knives, swords,” Riley said. “You have many people killed every year with blunt force trauma. An officer has to evaluate the scene, at that moment, to make that call to use deadly force.”

Riley said the criminal investigation being performed by Alabama Bureau of Investigation is an important check and balance to ensure the Selma Police Department officer was right in his decision to discharge their weapon.

“We have to always maintain the trust of the people,” Riley said. “There will always be a portion of the community that will not trust police, not matter what you do, but that does not preclude us from making sure we are doing everything we should be doing and from having that oversight. Sometimes, things like this will happen, but we want to make sure it is looked at properly and we are doing what we need to.”

The officer, who has not been identified, has been placed on paid administrative leave, which Riley said is standard procedure.

Riley also said the officer would have access to a psychiatrist if needed.

“For a certain period of time you put them on administrative leave,” Riley said. “You put them on administrative leave for the welfare of the officer and the welfare of the community, because you want to be sure of what brought the situation on.”

Sgt. Steve Jarrett, a public information official with the Alabama Department of Public Safety, confirmed in an email Thursday afternoon that the Alabama Bureau of Investigation is handling the investigation.

Jarrett said the results of the investigation, which state law forbids from being released to members of the media or general public, would be given to the district attorney upon its conclusion.

Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson said Thursday when those findings arrive in his office, they would proceed through normal legal channels.

“Whenever ABI completes their investigation, we will present all of their findings to a grand jury,” Jackson said.