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Florida Lotto Jackpot Winner Shot By Two Deputies
wftv.com. ^ | 7:08 am EDT April 20, 2006 | wftv.com.

Posted on 04/20/2006 6:42:31 PM PDT by grjr21

FOREST CITY, Fla. -- A $60 million lottery winner was shot by two Seminole County deputies. Robert Swofford, Jr. is in the hospital with four gunshot wounds.
Swofford, 54, may have thought the deputies on his private property were intruders, but the officers who were looking for a burglar. Instead, they ran into the armed man.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office released video taken by their helicopter just moments after deputies shot Swofford at his home off 436 near Forest City. They said he had an semi-automatic weapon and refused to drop it.
Swofford's close friend told Channel 9 on Thursday that people are always lurking around his expensive cars on his property. A sheriff's search dog led two deputies onto Swofford's property from the back, about 200 feet behind the house. Then, the three found themselves gun to gun.
The two deputies, dog-handler Billy Morris, a 10-year veteran, and rookie officer Ronnie Remus, said they identified themselves as sheriff's deputies and told the man they thought was their car burglary suspect to drop the gun. Instead, they said, he moved the 9-millimeter handgun toward them and they opened fire.Later, they found out they had shot the $60 million lotto winner.

"My gut feeling is that an alarm went off in the house and he went off to investigate," said Swofford’s close friend Don Buchholz.Swofford's friends said he's installed cameras, sensors and alarm systems all over his property. Since he won the lotto jackpot, he's had a lot of trespassers."People coming on the property, scoping the cars out. We've had to chase them, yeah. We've had a lot of excitement around here," Buchholz said.
But the sheriff's office said they have no written reports of any trespassers on the property and would never recommend that someone take matters into their own hands, unless there was no other alternative, because of the very possibility that something like this could happen.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is trying to find out why Swofford didn't drop his gun.
 His friends don't understand why it happened either."I'm upset. I'm not pointing the finger at anybody. Right now, to me, it was a big accident," Buchholz said.This isn't the first time that Swofford has made headlines since winning the lotto jackpot.
 First, he didn't collect the money until his divorce was final. But, eventually, as part of the divorce settlement, he gave his wife $5 million and he has now reunited with her. Then, he was sued twice by his wife's sister, with whom he also has a child.
Two deputies are on administrative leave after Thursday morning's shooting. Deputy Billy Morse has been with the sheriff's office for ten years. Deputy Ronnie Remus has been with Seminole County for one year.Sheriff's records show Deputy Billy Morris has had a few problems during his ten years on the force. Among them, he failed to identify himself as a deputy while off-duty breaking up a bar fight and he shot and killed a suspect's dog a few years ago while trying to make an arrest


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; donutwatch; intruders; lottery; lotto; policestate; privateproperty; righttobeararms; secondamendment; selfdefense
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To: muawiyah
"hot pursuit"

You keep saying this, as if you believe that repetition will eventially make it true.

101 posted on 04/21/2006 7:12:08 AM PDT by Oztrich Boy (A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist)
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To: muawiyah
The reason the dog got shot was not that the cops were getting ready to "attack" Randy Weaver's place ~ rather, they thought the dog was a game animal.

Hunting "game animals" with an MP5? You're remarkably full of crap.

102 posted on 04/21/2006 7:14:16 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: Oztrich Boy
Then what was the helicopter for?

In any case, the cops are well covered by a number of other legal doctrines.

Best not pull a gun on a cop you know.

103 posted on 04/21/2006 7:14:46 AM PDT by muawiyah (-)
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To: muawiyah
The reason the dog got shot was not that the cops were getting ready to "attack" Randy Weaver's place ~ rather, they thought the dog was a game animal.

game animals don't bark.
104 posted on 04/21/2006 7:28:35 AM PDT by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: muawiyah

"In any case, the cops are well covered by a number of other legal doctrines."

We are quite aware that the government has made everything they do all nice and legal.


105 posted on 04/21/2006 7:38:45 AM PDT by VRing (Nine out the ten voices in my head told me to stay home and clean my rifle today.)
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To: WestVirginiaRebel
If I ever won the lotto I'd just buy an island someplace and declare myself an independent country...

Or even better, offer to make it a Swiss colony, so that you get the advantage of good banking laws.

106 posted on 04/21/2006 7:52:56 AM PDT by Centurion2000 (Every man must be tempted, sometimes,to hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.)
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To: muawiyah
"Lorton Prison" ~ filled with DC's nastiest criminals.

Go figure -- and here I thought I thought that the Senate was filled with DC's nastiest criminals

107 posted on 04/21/2006 7:53:26 AM PDT by Colorado Doug (Diversity is divisive. E. Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one))
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To: absolootezer0
shoot the dog first. a dog is always your first line of defense, not necessarily as an attack dog, but as an early warning system.

Doesn't the report of a gun shot serve as an early warning too?

108 posted on 04/21/2006 7:57:19 AM PDT by Colorado Doug (Diversity is divisive. E. Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one))
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To: cripplecreek

Just because armed men claim to be police officers invading your property is no reason not to defend yourself on your own property.

What do they tell these knuckle head guys when they put a badge on their chest and a gun in their hand.

Anyone that has dealt with some of these so-called peace officers know they are not the brightest.


109 posted on 04/21/2006 8:00:38 AM PDT by hgro
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To: looscnnn

LOL!


110 posted on 04/21/2006 8:14:18 AM PDT by subterfuge (Call me a Jingoist, I don't care...)
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To: Colorado Doug
Doesn't the report of a gun shot serve as an early warning too?

when was the last time you heard about a raid team going out without suppressed MP5s? best way to describe the sound is similar to that of what an air powered nail gun makes.
111 posted on 04/21/2006 8:25:46 AM PDT by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: muawiyah

Unless he married one of his sisters, the sister would not be his.


112 posted on 04/21/2006 10:42:16 AM PDT by looscnnn ("Olestra (Olean) applications causes memory leaks" PC Confusious)
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To: absolootezer0

No one said the dog barked did they.


113 posted on 04/21/2006 2:57:21 PM PDT by muawiyah (-)
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To: VRing
Sure do. Otherwise no one but slaves would work for the government.

That, BTW, is the technique used by the Mameluks. I think you'd have enjoyed them even less than you do the sort of government we have today.

114 posted on 04/21/2006 2:58:51 PM PDT by muawiyah (-)
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To: Colorado Doug

Hardly. The US Senate IMPORTS it's criminals. DC has no senators.


115 posted on 04/21/2006 2:59:32 PM PDT by muawiyah (-)
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To: muawiyah

No, I don't know. I suppose I will just have to be shot by a cop while wandering around on my property to find out.


116 posted on 04/21/2006 5:07:56 PM PDT by welfareisslavery
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To: muawiyah
That, BTW, is the technique used by the Mameluks. I think you'd have enjoyed them even less than you do the sort of government we have today.

So Mameluks or Samuri?. I'd prefer another option.

117 posted on 04/21/2006 5:44:23 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy (A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist)
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