Officer shot (by homeowner?) after responding to the wrong house

[HoneyBadger]

Interesting. This is a crappy situation, but I hope the homeowner doesn't face any legal trouble and I really hope nobodies injuries are fatal.

Just outside Atlanta, police responded to a suspicious person call by entering the unlocked backdoor to this guy's home. They claim to have identified themselves, but a lot of details aren't clear. What is clear is that they entered a guy's house, shot his dog, and now the homeowner and one officer have been shot in the leg.

People will probably say that nobody would have been shot if the homeowner wasn't armed (nobody was even able to confirm whether he was armed or not, but I assume he was), and others will probably say that the cop got what he deserved for trespassing or some such garbage. I don't think this is a political issue, just an unfortunate mixup that could have been much more costly.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/01.../?intcmp=hpbt3

[Dave_L]

Bad situation all the way around. If someone enters my house at night, dog probably wakes up first, goes to investigate. If I hear someone shoot my dog, I'm assuming its game on and will respond accordingly. If cops only identified themselves upon entry, I doubt I'd hear them in my bedroom, assuming they said it in normal voices and only once. Again, bad situation.

Side notes:

If you call 9-1-1 and can't give an address, try to hang around in a safe area and flag the cops to direct them properly.
Why does an unlocked door mean someone probably broke in?

[Irving]

From what was reported on the news I was watching this morning, someone called in a suspicious person and only gave a description of a home, but not the address. Officer entered through unlocked back door.

First, how many houses on your street are very similar to your house with just a basic description? Where I live, almost all the houses are the same from the outside. Second, there must be much more to the story because when the police get called for suspicious people in my neighborhood, they haven't been entering homes. Sad about the dog. My dog would have been shot in that situation as well.

[cstone]

After arriving on the scene, if the situation wasn't semi-obvious, it was normal to ask dispatch to call back to the reporting party and ask them to meet the responding officer.

It was hit or miss whether the reporting party responded or not, but walking up to an unknown house on an anonymous call is a poor choice.

I hope all parties in this situation recover and a much more complete story emerges from the investigation. There are always lessons to be learned.

Be safe.

[Kraven251]

I feel the worst for the dog.

[BlasterBob]

KEEP THE DOORS LOCKED.
As long as we are both in the house or at least one of us is in the house, the doors are locked. Got that rule while living in the Chicago area many years ago.

[BushMasterBoy]

Blue on blue...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...-wrong-n419491

[izzy]

So this guys dog gets killed and he gets shot by the cops going to the wrong house?? I hope he never had to work another day in his life.

[hatidua]

I hope the homeowner doesn't face any legal trouble

-not sure it's a crime (yet) to get shot in your own house while innocently minding your own business.

[McRib]

I feel the worst for the dog.

This.