Of course there is more here that meets the eye and probably than what got in the paper.
What IS known is that the officer resigned, the judge who issued the warrant announced retirement, and the unit responsible was disbanded the day 20/20 showed up to tape. All of that is in the story.
You said “alleged the crib was being used as....” Who alleges that? Who alleges the family burned down their house cooking meth? There were also claims by the PD that the informant alleged there were “guards” standing outside the house. Where were they when SWAT showed up? Were they, was anyone arrested on scene?
To add insult to injury, Habersham County is hiding against a state immunity law and not even paying the medical bills (they call it a gratuity).
I’ll tell you this. When this case does go to trial, Habersham County and/or all the officials involved will pay dearly for this. A jury is not going to be “gratuitious” to them.
It's the first I've heard of it, too. They don't seem the type =>
In Wisconsin, Alecia worked as a full-time nurse caring for elderly and disabled people. She worked 16-hour days, sometimes seven days a week to support the family.
Bounkham stayed at home and cared for the couple’s three daughters — ages 3, 5, and 7 — baby Bou Bou, and Alecia’s mentally disabled brother.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikehayes/how-a-meth-deal-and-a-botched-raid-left-a-baby-maimed
I wondered the same. From the snippet provided by rdcbn in post 10--it appears that the arrests were made at another residence, not the home raided.
The family crowded into a former garage converted into a bedroom: parents Bounkham and Alecia, 7-year-old Emma, 5-year-old Mali, 3-year-old Charlie and 18-month-old Bounkham Jr., known as “Bou Bou.”
At approximately 2 a.m. May 28, the family awakened to a blinding flash and loud explosion in their bedroom. A Special Response Team (aka SWAT team) from the Habersham County Sheriff's Office burst unannounced into the bedroom where they were sleeping.
If the family had such disregard for their child, to use him as a door block...why would they hide the children when drug deals went down? Why would they still have custody of this child and the other children? If the parents are such hard-core, dope dealing, meth cookers-- they certainly should have the children removed.
I don't know enough of the facts to determine much but what is known to us doesn't look good for the police. No matter the story, the child was innocent and this is a horrid tragedy! If was was a converted garage to bedroom, it seems likely a child wasn't used to block the door--the child was there because of space etc. Plus, a playpen isn't much of a door block.
How did the parents have time to block the door with the child, if first the police feel resistance (playpen resistance--yeah)and then use a flashbang? Did they go for the front door first? Was that door blocked, too?