Dale Robert Varney

Deadly force

Dale R. Varney, 38, was shot by Tomah police officers who were responding to a request to remove an intoxicated man. After entering the home, officers encountered Varney in the kitchen, and he had multiple knives. Officers tried to talk to him for several minutes, asking him to put the knives down, but he refused and started "flailing the knives about," causing injury to a family member. The family member was trapped on the porch and in immediate danger, and police shot and killed Varney.