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?

[asmo]

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.

So a couple of weeks ago DoCo SWAT goes banging down the door to the guy across the streets house - at 0630. I come flying out of bed, throw on some shorts, and go outside. There are two guys in FULL BATTLE RATTLE banging down the neighbors door - with a ram (that they are using poorly). There are no marked cop cars outside and they don't have POLICE or SWAT or SHERIFF on their plate carriers and I don't see any badges. I go back inside to grab something bigger and notice out of the corner of my eye a uniformed cop down the street (probably 600' or so) - so I put two and two together and go inside. Eventually the homeowner get to the door as they bust in -- then the cops go ape shit with them, screaming at them, berating them for making them break down the door. Bad things ensue.



Okay, so I get curious because I don't ever remember them announcing POLICE or SWAT or SHERIFF the whole time they are banging down the door (2.5 minutes). I pull up my camera recording of the incident, and it has full sound of everything that happened. I listen and confirm they NEVER ANNOUNCED POLICE OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT - at least not until the homeowner was at the door and they were already practically inside. I think back on that incident and heaven forbid what would happen if I was ever in that situation. All I would know is that two heavily armed men were trying to bust into my house. I think that would end poorly for everyone involved.

[Ah Pook]

So a couple of weeks ago DoCo SWAT goes banging down the door to the guy across the streets house - at 0630. I come flying out of bed, throw on some shorts, and go outside. There are two guys in FULL BATTLE RATTLE banging down the neighbors door - with a ram (that they are using poorly). There are no marked cop cars outside and they don't have POLICE or SWAT or SHERIFF on their plate carriers and I don't see any badges. I go back inside to grab something bigger and notice out of the corner of my eye a uniformed cop down the street (probably 600' or so) - so I put two and two together and go inside. Eventually the homeowner get to the door as they bust in -- then the cops go ape shit with them, screaming at them, berating them for making them break down the door. Bad things ensue.



Okay, so I get curious because I don't ever remember them announcing POLICE or SWAT or SHERIFF the whole time they are banging down the door (2.5 minutes). I pull up my camera recording of the incident, and it has full sound of everything that happened. I listen and confirm they NEVER ANNOUNCED POLICE OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT - at least not until the homeowner was at the door and they were already practically inside. I think back on that incident and heaven forbid what would happen if I was ever in that situation. All I would know is that two heavily armed men were trying to bust into my house. I think that would end poorly for everyone involved.

Owner should have lit them up with some rubber bullets.

[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.

[McRib]

I feel the worst for the dog.

This.

[BushMasterBoy]

Blue on blue...

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