Posted on 11/21/2006 9:12:54 PM PST by Hazcat
92-year-old woman was killed after she shot three Atlanta narcotics officers Tuesday night when they broke down the front door of her home trying to serve a search warrant, police said.
One officer was hit in the arm, one was struck in the shoulder, and one was shot in the thigh. All were rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where they were in stable condition late Tuesday night. Police did not release their identities.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
I'm glad to hear it was the perp who lost his head and the good guy lived.
92 year old living in high crime area, hard of hearing perhaps or in the back room. Doesn't hear anyone yell POLICE or perhaps just hears someone yellin on the porch but doesn't hear what. Looks out window sees three dudes in plainclothes with guns advancing with purpose on her property towards her house.
Does the math "Damn punks is trying to get me" and does the only thing any of us would do when faced with a gang attack she opens fire quickly and sends em packin only to find out she was outgunned.
Its certainly a possible scenario from the viewpoint of the woman.
I'll say this for her. She was one heck of a shot. Three shots three hits.
To bad for all involved granny and the law.
I frequently use the /s tag, but I was hoping the absurdity of my questions wouldn't require it. Regardless, my reaction was the same as yours. It's time for the rest of America to wake up and realize that the war on drugs has failed.
Sad event? How bout tragic most horrifying event?
When the thugs use grandma's house, everyone should know and find a way to catch the sorry low life bastard on the street.
It's a shame she didn't have a family dog to shoot as well.
They were indeed absurd. Beg your pardon. And we agree.
My "things that go bump in the night" choice is a 12 ga pump, I reckon that the sound of a jackboot against the door would cause me to start a dynamic unload.
There should be some extra effort made to investigate, before kicking down someones door. Anyone can stand on the front porch, and claim to be cops.
My bet is they yelled Police as they broke down the door and rushed in. The article says it was a crime ridden neighborhood, so her rusted gun probably was close by.
By what isn't being said makes me think the Atlanta cops screwed up somewhere, big time and a 92 year old woman paid.
"It's a shame she didn't have a family dog to shoot as well."
That would have been icing on the cake. /s
Amen to that! But I'd probably be shooting a 12 ga or a 7.62X39.
I wouldn't bet on that.
I'd call that a major srewup. Impeach the judge who issues a warrant on info like that.
A little due diligence is in order in situations like this.
Daily surveillance of the home in question for some period of time (a few days at least) to verify that the residence is truly a drug house.
If it is verified that the home is indeed a drug house there are two approaches that could have prevented this tragedy.
Monitor the home for a day and wait for the dealer to leave the residence. Then make a traditional service of warrant. (Uniformed police, knock, identify and search). After the home is entered and drugs found arrest the perp.
Monitor the home for a day and wait for the dealer to enter the residence. Perform your no knock raid as soon as possible.
I have read of similar No Knocks performed on no more than the word of an informant who was not even made to point out the home only gave an address.
Warrants are to be issued on sworn affidavit that a crime is believed to have been committed. Judges need to require more than the word of informants before issuing search warrants (particularly when many informants are criminals with extensive criminal records themselves simply looking for favorable treatment) . The police need to do some work to be more certain that they have the correct home.
Those who act with out practicing due diligence must be held accountable especially when innocents are harmed.
It appears that an innocent woman has lost her life due to the failure of narcotics detectives to be sure of their facts. Those in the position to make the decision to make a no knock raid on this house must be held accountable for their failure to ensure that they had the correct home and that actions were take to ensure the safety of the innocent.
I don't think we're getting the whole story here. So I can't judge what truly happened, but on the surface this sounds like the cops FUBAR'd on this big time.
OTOH, in their defense, in the first property I purchased and rennovated, the old lady next door turned out to be a drug dealer. I learned this after the first raid on her property. We sold not too long after that to what looked like a group of people or families that wanted to live in the house. To top it all off, she complained to me about them being foreigners.
No, I was trying not to die in the ICU.
whatever happened to just knocking on the door and showing the owner the warrant?
SWAT wannabes watched too many episodes of The Shield
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