Posted on 04/07/2023 1:44:35 PM PDT by CedarDave
Farmington police responding to an argument went to the wrong house Wednesday night and shot and killed the homeowner when he came to the door with a gun in his hand.
New Mexico State Police spokesman Ray Wilson said officers “mistakenly” went to the home of 52-year-old Robert Dotson and killed him before shooting at his wife in a neighborhood near the Animas River.
Wilson said Dotson’s wife fired back at police from the doorway and officers shot at her but missed. Wilson added, “Once she realized that the individuals outside the residence were officers, she put the gun down and complied with the officer’s commands.”
Shanice Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Farmington Police Department, said three officers who were “directly involved” have been put on administrative leave.
Gonzales said the call police were initially to be responding to was for a “verbal argument” and nobody was injured or detained in that incident. She did not say how the address mix-up occurred.
By Friday morning the incident had made national news and a Facebook video posted by Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe garnered hundreds of comments from those criticizing the officers, demanding Hebbe’s resignation and talking about what a good man Dotson, a father, was.
In the video Hebbe said it was “a very dark day” for the department.
“What I will tell you, as the chief, is this is an extremely traumatic event and that I am just heartbroken by the circumstances surrounding this,” he said. “Mr. Dotson was not the subject of the call that our officers were responding to and this ending is just unbelievably tragic. I am extremely sorry that we are in this position.”
He added, “There is nothing I can say that will make this better.”
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Were any transgenders in the neighborhood hurt ??????
That isn’t exactly true. The victims can and will sue the living hell out of the department and they will win big. And in New Mexico the officers can be sued personally as well.
Every single one of them should put said weapon in their mouth and pull the trigger.
Unless you have a M-60 trained on the door as one of my acquaintances who lives in Atlanta claimed he did during the riots.
“Looks like a decent lawsuit.”
My guess is 1-2 million dollars in New Mexico. And more like one million. NM is a poor state. (I have lived there)
Not any more in New Mexico. The Dem legislature and governor eliminated that protection in last year's legislative session mainly because there were cases where known felons or gangbangers with a gun history were shot before the cops could get determine the actual threat.
“Did they have their guns out?
You can bet on it... And you can also bet they did not identify themselves as LE or this would have never happened.”
And this is how they are responding to a report of a “verbal argument”? In shoot to kill mode? Had they been at the correct house, would they have just shot the arguers? I admit, that would have shut them up.
I agree...or maybe even worse then manslaughter.!
I don't see where a policeman has a right to kill you just because you have a gun on your person, or in your hand.. (?)
My concern is that if i don’t answer a knock they will break the door down. Would they just go away if i don’t answer?
I assume they wanted to ask him some questions, but had to follow standard policy of shoot first.
She should have kept it up.
She should have legally been in the right.
Used to be. The residents are poor and NM is at the bottom of every list (e.g. income, education, etc.). But the state itself has billions in surplus oil dollars (number 2 behind Texas) and just got through throwing them all over the place, especially to combat climate change and lots for teachers and government money for woke programs. The irony is while raking in billions, the radical Commie environutters in Santa Fe are trying to shutter the industry with ever more draconian rules and regulations.
They should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.
“And this is how they are responding to a report of a “verbal argument”? In shoot to kill mode? Had they been at the correct house, would they have just shot the arguers? I admit, that would have shut them up.”
Every interaction is shoot to kill mode by default. Even just a taillight out.
Or if they did it was likely unintelligible screaming as we usually see on TV.
With drug cartels and violent human traffickers loose all over the West, it is more likely that people when they come to the door, will take precautions and be armed and ready.
You don’t need to point a gun at the cops to get shot. Just having it in your hand is enough to get you killed.
I wonder if the rendered aid after they shot him.
“With drug cartels and violent human traffickers loose all over the West, it is more likely that people when they come to the door, will take precautions and be armed and ready.”
We need to understand that “self Defense” has been outlawed. Only authorities are allowed to defend themselves. The rest of us are expected to do our part for the better of the whole and just be helpless victims.
“You don’t need to point a gun at the cops to get shot. Just having it in your hand is enough to get you killed.”
Just reaching too fast for a wallet to get identification after asked for it has gotten many killed.
Sounds like both the LEO’s and the homeowners got training from the Houston PD
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