Former Greene Sheriff Morris dead

Updated: 10:15 p.m. Former Greene County Sheriff William L. Morris, a larger-than-life figure in local law enforcement for two decades, has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Morris died at 5:01 p.m. Thursday, Greene County Sheriff Scott Haas confirmed.

Morris was discovered near his home just before noon, according to a news release.

Authorities believe it was Morris who activated a panic alarm, which summoned deputies to his property, Maj. Randall Snead of the Sheriff’s Office said.

There they found a note, which directed them to Morris.

He was outdoors, near a barn, suffering from a gunshot wound that deputies believe he inflicted on himself with a handgun. The note authorities found didn’t give any indication why he shot himself, Snead said.

“Obviously, there’s some other things that we’re still investigating,” he said.

It took deputies no more than 15 minutes from the time the alarm company called in the alert to find Morris, and probably somewhat less, Snead said. Citing the privacy of the family, he declined to say in exactly which part of his body Morris had shot himself.

Morris was taken by ambulance to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where initially he had been listed in critical condition.

“Obviously, it’s not a good day,” Snead said.

Morris was a well-known and colorful Greene County character, known throughout the region for his ruthless enforcement of traffic laws on U.S. 29.

A fitness club owner and champion weightlifter, Morris rode a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment into office in 1983. He drew national attention the next year when he held a bake sale for money to investigate drug cases after his office got what he considered inadequate funding.

Over the years, he held more bake sales for other purposes, including new radios.

In 1991, Morris was nearly paralyzed after being hit with buckshot as he escorted a woman back to her home after a domestic dispute.

He also once held a convicted felon in his home for two hours because the nearby jails were full. The prisoner sat in an easy chair, watched TV and dined on baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and chocolate mousse pie.

Another day, he arrested his own brother. In court, witnesses testified they saw him whack his brother - who was a large, strong man as well as a convicted felon - with his service revolver as he made the arrest. Morris disputed the account.

For a time, he kept a 3-foot marijuana plant in a flowerpot in his office, beneath his weightlifting trophies. The sheriff was hoping to use the plant as evidence, but knew it would die if he put it in the evidence room. So he kept it in his office, where he watered and fertilized it.

Sheriff Haas, who took over after Morris retired in 2003, served as Morris’ chief deputy.

“He really and truly did care about what went on in the county and about the people there, and I think most people do not understand what a soft spot he had in his heart when people were victims or a crime had happened,” Haas said.

He added, “He did a lot of things quietly, checking on the elderly or people that had problems, and he would check on them and nothing was ever said, or he didn’t make it public.”

Morris was sheriff “at a time when there was rapid growth in the county, and he tackled drugs head on,” Haas said.

Albemarle County Sheriff J.E. “Chip” Harding worked alongside Morris as they lobbied to use seized drug proceeds for law enforcement, he said.

The two also worked several cases together, Harding said.

“Everybody probably has a Willie Morris story, because he was a very colorful individual,” Harding said.

He recalled a time in 1992 when he and Morris were hidden under a trailer, watching a nearby house to see if the suspected leader of a drug ring would show up. But then Morris started in with his stories.

“He started cracking me up so bad I thought somebody was going to hear us laughing before we could bring the case to fruition,” Harding said.

Former Greene County Sheriff William L. Morris is in critical condition after apparently shooting himself with a handgun, Maj. Randall Snead of the county sheriff’s office has confirmed.

Investigators believe Morris activated a panic alarm, which drew deputies to the house, he said.

Once there, they found a note, which directed them to a part of Morris’ property where he was lying wounded.

“Obviously, it’s not a good day,” Snead said.

Further details on the shooting were not available. Morris is being treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center, Snead said.

Morris cut a colorful figure as Greene’s sheriff, and was known for ruthlessly ticketing speeders on U.S. 29. He drew national media attention in 1984, his first year in office, for holding a bake sale to raise money for anti-drug measures.

Once he held a convicted felon in his living room for two hours on a Sunday afternoon because there was no space at the nearby jails. The prisoner sat in an easy chair, watched TV and dined on baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and chocolate mousse pie.

During his time in office, Morris was critically injured when he was shot repeatedly by an assailant who was subsequently shot to death by a deputy. Morris barely escaped paralysis.

Morris left office in 2004.

Read the full story in Friday’s Daily Progress.