• Police Respond To Wrong House And Shoot Its Homeowner when he refuses to put down gun
    163 replies, posted
[url]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/authorities-police-respond-to-wrong-house-shoot-homeowner/[/url] [quote]STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. -- A Georgia police officer responded to the wrong house and shot the homeowner, authorities said Wednesday. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Henry County police asked the agency to investigate the shooting early Wednesday morning at home in Stockbridge, southeast of Atlanta. CBS affiliate WGCL reported someone called 911 shortly before midnight Tuesday to report hearing a woman yelling for help and gunshots. The GBI said a preliminary review of the 911 call indicates the three officers who responded went to the wrong home.[/quote] Jesus christ.
That'll teach him.
To be fair he was shot after showing up with a gun and ignoring their orders: [quote]One of the officers shot Powell in the neck when he didn't obey officers' commands to drop the gun.[/quote]
[quote]"There was an argument there however they indicated that there was no screaming for help or shots fired," Scott Dutton of the GBI told WGCL[/quote] Gotta love when dumb asses call 911 and report incorrect or completely false or fabricated information and get people killed.
I live two roads down from that house. I hope he comes out alive.
[QUOTE=BuffaloBill;50487092]To be fair he was shot after showing up with a gun and ignoring their orders:[/QUOTE] Didn't mean he deserved to die. I'm not one of those "self-defence" advocates, but since it's legal to carry a handgun in case a robber is at your door or something they should've just let him have it and questioned him. Besides, he might've been in a state of surprise when he randomly saw officers at his door, he might've just been in a panic due to all the shouting, and could've not heard what they were saying.
When I read that article ten minutes ago, it said he was still alive, but in critical condition in hospital. And to be fair to the police, aside from their complete fuckup of going to the wrong house, they were expecting an armed and dangerous suspect, as they had reasonable grounds to believe a murder had just been committed.
[QUOTE=MaximLaHaxim;50487126]Didn't mean he deserved to die. I'm not one of those "self-defence" advocates, but since it's legal to carry a handgun in case a robber is at your door or something they should've just let him have it and questioned him.[/QUOTE] He's not dead, he's in critical condition. While it's unfortunate that he was shot, you can't blame the police for reacting the way they did since they were acting on the assumption that there was a serious altercation and shots were fired at the location they were responding to.
-snip-
[QUOTE=MaximLaHaxim;50487150]-snip-[/QUOTE] [del]For the second time, read your article, it doesn't mention anywhere that the man died.[/del]
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;50487149]He's not dead, he's in critical condition. While it's unfortunate that he was shot, you can't blame the police for reacting the way they did since they were acting on the assumption that there was a serious altercation and shots were fired at the location they were responding to.[/QUOTE] I agree, this situation was just destined to end horribly. [editline]9th June 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=archangel125;50487156][del]For the second time, read your article, it doesn't mention anywhere that the man died.[/del][/QUOTE] I did read it. I just forgot one of the parts, since I focused on creating the thread after. Anyways, I don't want to derail the thread; continue.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;50487149]He's not dead, he's in critical condition. While it's unfortunate that he was shot, you can't blame the police for reacting the way they did since they were acting on the assumption that there was a serious altercation and shots were fired at the location they were responding to.[/QUOTE] You can absolutely blame the police for reacting the way they did. They were at the wrong fucking house.
[QUOTE=J$ Psychotic;50487756]You can absolutely blame the police for reacting the way they did. They were at the wrong fucking house.[/QUOTE] they didn't know
[QUOTE]The GBI said the officers were met by the homeowner, 63-year-old William Powell, who had a handgun. One of the officers shot Powell in the neck when he didn't obey officers' commands to drop the gun.[/QUOTE] I understand police going to the wrong address, it happens, but what are the chances that on that wrong address they will be met by a stubborn guy carrying a handgun ?
honestly this probably isn't as clear cut as it should be. I would imagine having police enter your house without being called or without cause would be a bit suspicious. Perhaps he thought they were impersonating police because really there was no reason for them to be there.
[QUOTE=Zelacks;50488044]honestly this probably isn't as clear cut as it should be. I would imagine having police enter your house without being called or without cause would be a bit suspicious. Perhaps he thought they were impersonating police because really there was no reason for them to be there.[/QUOTE] yeah I would absolutely be on the defensive if cops came beating down my door for something I didn't do, people have been killed/robbed by fake cops. fake cops seem more likely to me than real police beating down the door with guns
[QUOTE=MaximLaHaxim;50487912]they didn't know[/QUOTE] There's a thing called negligence. "They didn't know" can only work as an excuse for so long.
[QUOTE=daschnek;50488417]There's a thing called negligence. "They didn't know" can only work as an excuse for so long.[/QUOTE] You have to prove negligence, which is hard to do when it comes to an address. 1568 can easily be confused in your memory with 1560 even after reading it multiple times. You're thinking about so many things that shit like this happens.
[QUOTE=AntonioR;50487971]I understand police going to the wrong address, it happens, but what are the chances that on that wrong address they will be met by a stubborn guy carrying a handgun ?[/QUOTE] This is America we're talking about, so the odds are pretty high.
[QUOTE=Code3Response;50488438]You have to prove negligence, which is hard to do when it comes to an address. 1568 can easily be confused in your memory with 1560 even after reading it multiple times. You're thinking about so many things that shit like this happens.[/QUOTE] That is very true, and negligence is a particularly tricky thing to prove in court. However, the fact that negligence may not be able to be proven in court does not mean that the officers weren't negligent in this situation.
No, no, no. We train and pay these individuals to be perfect. We provide these individuals, these police officers, with firearms with the assurance that they won't make a mistake and critically injure an innocent person like this. We don't make a convent with our government which says "Okay, we'll allow THIS degree of negligence, or allow THIS many accidental deaths at the hands of law enforcement officials, in exchange for protection." I don't hate police officers. I'm sure that the officers in question are quite remorseful about this entire situation. But I demand that the people who I've armed and given the power to either arrest or ultimately injure or kill someone never make a mistake, and when someone's wielding that amount of power, that's not an unreasonable demand to make. This isn't a Wendy's line cook fucking up my order of small fries - this is someone enforcing the law.
[QUOTE=J$ Psychotic;50488569]this is someone enforcing the law.[/QUOTE] In this case, with a gun pointed at them.
[QUOTE=J$ Psychotic;50488569]No, no, no. We train and pay these individuals to be perfect. We provide these individuals, these police officers, with firearms with the assurance that they won't make a mistake and critically injure an innocent person like this. We don't make a convent with our government which says "Okay, we'll allow THIS degree of negligence, or allow THIS many accidental deaths at the hands of law enforcement officials, in exchange for protection." I don't hate police officers. I'm sure that the officers in question are quite remorseful about this entire situation. But I demand that the people who I've armed and given the power to either arrest or ultimately injure or kill someone never make a mistake, and when someone's wielding that amount of power, that's not an unreasonable demand to make. This isn't a Wendy's line cook fucking up my order of small fries - this is someone enforcing the law.[/QUOTE] Good luck having any meaningful number of police officers then.
[QUOTE=Apache249;50488597]Good luck having any meaningful number of police officers then.[/QUOTE] we don't need an army of cops
[QUOTE=Judas;50488603]we don't need an army of cops[/QUOTE] Tell that to the already understaffed, underfunded departments in the highest crime rate cities in the US. If you expect every cop to be as well trained and physically fit as a Navy SEAL then you're not going to have enough cops to respond to 90% of calls.
[QUOTE=Judas;50488603]we don't need an army of cops[/QUOTE] We need more than 0.
And I'm not saying that cops shouldn't have better training. The definitely should, but the notion that all cops have to be some sort of superman is not realistic in the slightest.
[QUOTE=Apache249;50488629]And I'm not saying that cops shouldn't have better training. The definitely should, but the notion that all cops have to be some sort of superman is not realistic in the slightest.[/QUOTE] They don't need to be Superman. They need to get the address right.
oooh this is like a catch 22 for conservatives. on the one hand, castle doctrine, 2nd amendment and liberty, on the other hand, the cops are always right and to criticize them is to not support our police and is unamerican! this is yet another consiquence of just militarizing everything these days. is it a smart idea to bring a gun to your door when the cops are knocking? of course not. is it a good idea for cops to go for shoot first? probably not either, though the article doesn't really make a good case for who's at fault here, i'm sort of going to lean on the cops side though because that guy had no reason not to cooperate, unless they just went nuts the instant he opened the door
All I'm saying is they better be paying him compensation. It's fucked up but the cops need to acknowledge mistakes were made and pay his hospital bill at least.
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