Why are people blaming the two officers?
They had a warrant with this address on it (the warrant was wrong, but that isn’t their fault, or at least nothing in the story says they were involved with the warrant).
They knocked on the door. The people inside said they heard the knocking, but didn’t listen. The police say they identified themselves and broke in the door. The woman doesn’t say they didn’t.
When they came in, the man shot at them with a shotgun. They returned fire. The woman doesn’t dispute this.
So I don’t see, a priori, why we would blame the two officer, or call them names.
I don’t expect police to go in guns blazing. But I don’t expect police to stand there when they are being shot at.
I don’t expect police to go in guns blazing. But I don’t expect police to stand there when they are being shot at
Neither do I, but I *DO* expect the officers to be criminally charged and tried for manslaughter. And I also think that whoever *swore* before the Judge to get the warrant issued should be criminally tried and charged with homicide (not manslaughter).
If it wasn't for some idiot's malfeasant sworn oath on a warrant, erroneously detailing the place(s) to be searched and the item(s) to be seized, this homicide would not have occurred. The error was *completely* avoidable; there was no mention of any exigent circumstances involved. He either failed to validate the information or he lied on the warrant. It's one or the other. Either of those should be criminal felonies all by themselves (if there was such a thing as "true" justice).
I've always believed that whoever obtains the warrant should be on the entry team. Period. They can put him last in line and wrap him in kevlar if he's a desk-jockey, but he needs to be in an on-site position to visually verify the target & point it out to each entry-team member before the curtiledge is ever crossed, allowing no-one to proceed until everyone has a clear understanding of the target and the warrant. And if *anything* goes wrong, that person who obtained the warrant is personally liable, with no immunity, for the actions of each and every person who commits an error (either innocently or otherwise).
If they can't make that commitment, then they have no business serving forced-entry warrants in my opinion.