Oops..
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:51 pm
http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florid ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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ffemt300 wrote:http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/Deputies-shoot-kill-man-after-knocking-on-wrong-door/-/11788162/15527202/-/euk6tg/-/index.html
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. -
Lake County Sheriff's Office deputies shot and killed a man they assumed was an attempted murder suspect on Sunday, but they now know they shot the wrong man.
Officials said the deputies did not identify themselves because of safety reasons.
"When we knocked on the door, the door opened and the occupant of that apartment was pointing a gun at deputies, and that's when we opened fire and killed him," Lt. John Herrell said. "Even though this subject is not the one we were looking for when he opened the door. He was pointing the gun at the deputy and if you put yourselves in the deputy's shoes. They were there to pick up someone who was wanted for an attempted homicide."
Oh good. I'm glad everyone is safe.Officials said the deputies did not identify themselves because of safety reasons.
What is truly remarkable is the complete lack of remorse, and the fact that he makes sound like the dead man did something wrong by answering an unidentified knock in the middle of the night with a gun in his hand. It would have been smart to ask who was at the door, but still... To suggest that it is all his fault? That's just inexcusable.In the early-morning hours, deputies knocked on 26-year-old Andrew Lee Scott's door without identifying themselves as law enforcement officers. Scott answered the door with a gun in his hand.
"When we knocked on the door, the door opened and the occupant of that apartment was pointing a gun at deputies, and that's when we opened fire and killed him," Lt. John Herrell said. "Even though this subject is not the one we were looking for when he opened the door. He was pointing the gun at the deputy and if you put yourselves in the deputy's shoes. They were there to pick up someone who was wanted for an attempted homicide."
{snip}
"It's just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you're going to get shot," Herrell said.
C-dub wrote:
The innocent guy didn't know who was knocking on his door at 0130, but did know his neighborhood. If someone's trying to enter my home or knocking on my door at 0130 there just might be a gun pointed at them too.
Yeah, I'm rethinking my strategy. It's very difficult to nearly impossible to force my front door open. It's locked and dead bolted and braced from the inside with a 2x4. Someone will pretty much have to break the door or the hinges. I will probably just have the wife on the phone with the police, while I wait down the hallway around the corner for cover with my rifle.74novaman wrote:C-dub wrote:
The innocent guy didn't know who was knocking on his door at 0130, but did know his neighborhood. If someone's trying to enter my home or knocking on my door at 0130 there just might be a gun pointed at them too.
The guy made a mistake just opening the door at 1:30, gun or not. Anyone wants in my house at that hour, they're going to have to break it down. THEN they get to see the gun.
I guess at least this wasn't a "no knock" raid....though I'm not sure a "knock but don't bother to identify" policy is any better.
You can edit your original post and add some text...ffemt300 wrote:RPB, thanks for the tip. I'm a dummy when it comes to forum etiquette.
Here's the deal, as far as I'm concerned. My house has a wood plaque with brass numbers nailed to it indicating the address, mounted just above and to the right of the front door. There is a black box painted on the curb with my address number in contrasting white painted over it, at TWO locations—right in front of the front walkway leading up to my front door, and at the corner of the curb where my driveway exits. You would have to be a complete imbecile to NOT know that you were at the wrong house. If police were looking for my neighbors—neither of whose homes look anything like mine, by the way—and they shot me for answering a middle of the night knock with a gun in my hand, I think I would own them. I would own the PD. I would own the city. I think that a good lawyer could make that happen, because we still have a second amendment—despite the efforts of traitors among us—and I have a natural God-given right to defend my home, my family, and myself from a middle of the night raid by anybody hostile to my interests, so long as I have committed no crimes.chasfm11 wrote:I fully understand that officers remember situations like this one.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas ... -shot.html
At the same time, there has to be a way to help prevent the wrong people being targeted under these kinds of circumstances. I'd certainly want to verify that the people on the other side of my door were police at 2am. The chances are a lot better that the real police have the wrong house than that a group of BGs have gotten police uniforms and targeted my place but being woken from a sound sleep with only seconds to figure everything out is a tall order for older guys like me. My reflex action isn't to open the door, however.