Posted on 10/28/2021 11:53:24 AM PDT by Enlightened1
An attempt by Austin, Texas, officials to serve a search warrant and provide lawn care resulted in shots fired, an hourslong standoff, a house fire and a death, police said Wednesday.
Police officers and code enforcement officers arrived at a home at 9:16 a.m. to serve a nuisance search warrant, but could not make contact with the resident, Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said at an evening news conference.
The warrant was left at the door and contractors for the city's code enforcement began working on the lawn. About an hour later, the resident started shooting from inside the house, Chacon said.
"And they immediately backed off. They got all of the staff that was working on the house to safety and and a SWAT call was initiated for a barricaded subject," he said.
SWAT, mental health officers and a crisis negotiator arrived on scene, but could not get the man out of the home, leading to the lockdown of a nearby elementary school and the closure of several streets.
"SWAT spent the next several hours trying to negotiate with the individual to just simply come out of the house," Chacon said.
At about 3 p.m., the resident started shooting at officers again. "And because of that immediate threat ... they made entry using a robot," Chacon said.
The robot helped officers determine that a fire had been started in the home, and was quickly spreading, he said. Officers still couldn't get the man to come out of the house as it became fully engulfed in flames.
But then the man exited through the garage with weapons in his hand. "At that time, a SWAT officer shot and struck the resident who went down with a gunshot wound," Chacon said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Also, if the article was correct about the city trying to enforce HOA compliance rather than an actual city ordinance.
Because if true, his estate/heirs might have a nice case for a wrongful death suit.
I remember guys in Nam who were new and really were excited to get into the “action”. Their attitudes were adjusted very thoroughly by the “action”. SWAT teams don’t actually face any real opposition. They have all the protective gear and overwhelming numbers. Plus they are targeting incompetent untrained novices for the most part. I suspect many wouldn’t be so brave against a determined competent enemy.
People who shoot at innocent people and burn their own homes down generally are not mentally healthy. Trust me here. And I'd bet a cup of coffee the city, the HOA and the so-called authorities knew damn well the decedent had an unstable mental condition with a demeanor to match.
Did you miss the part where they were trespassing on his property because some NIMBY was bitching about his lawn?
Or is it ok to call SWAT on your neighbors if you don't like the topiary?
No doubt about that.
They can’t pay the fines. The city will leave them alone.
SWAT only showed up after he started firing on the crew.
Anyway, I’m sure the neighbors are all happy now, and instead of an unsightly lawn, they now have a smoking burned out crater in the HOA.
SHOULD HAVE CALLED SOCIAL WORKER!
—
Or a lawn service.
Actually, the way the land development code is written in Austin, there is no special connection required. Each and every neighbor has the power to complain for any real or perceived fault. They also have veto power over what you can do with your own property. The last code revision in the 1980s created this monster. The city and development community have been trying for a decade to update the code, but the NIMBY nazis have so far fought off the attempts to reduce their power.
Which one of these guys had training originating from the Clinton era FBI? They are getting lazy, everyone knows that before committing suicide by burning down your "compound" you first have to declare yourself a white supremacist.
Maybe. 18 months ago, I would have agreed with out reservation.
But I think governments are pushing people who already dislike government "mandates" to a point of action - or over reaction.
It is a HOME OWNERS Association. Not a Home Association.
And any association you can not leave is a prison or a cult.
I predict that like, right to work, right to LIVE will become law in most states and HOA's will become purely voluntary.
As it is they are un-American and those who grovel before them should go live somewhere else.
Your obsession over your neighbors is not healthy.
Probably both involved. That’s the way it is in our Town. The HOA has their rule and it is the same as the Town Ordinance although the Town Ordinance covers more items.
Now the neighbors get to look at the burned out shell of the house for quite awhile.
And then get to listen to all of the construction noise as they build a new house.
But, the grass is short. Except for the torn-up mud hole caused by the fire fighters.
Mental Health Officers were called in...it’s in the article
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