Friday morning feel good stories.
From WILLIAMSTON, N.C.
A homeowner in Williamston shot a suspect who he saw in his driveway breaking into vehicles, deputies said. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office responded to 3256 Bailey Road in Williamston in reference to someone that had been shot. Deputies arrived on the scene, secured the area and contacted investigators.
An investigation revealed that one of the homeowners was inside the residence and observed an individual breaking into the vehicles that were parked in the homeowner’s driveway.
The homeowner armed themselves with a handgun and went outside to confront the suspect. Deputies said that during the confrontation, a single shot was fired by the homeowner, which struck the suspect. The suspect was transported to Martin General Hospital by the Williamston Fire/Rescue Department and then airlifted to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for further medical treatment.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is assisting deputies with the investigation.
The case is still under investigation.
From Prince George’s County, MD Just a public service announcement, If you come to bust down my door I don’t care what you are screaming in the process. Two very lucky LEO’s in this case and the Judges who rubber stamp these warrants are never held accountable…ever. That needs to change.
A police search warrant team going after a drug dealer targeted the wrong address and burst into the apartment of an innocent resident who shot and wounded two officers believing they were home invaders, Prince George’s law enforcement officials said.
Police Chief Hank Stawinski apologized for the error Thursday and said he has halted executing search warrants until the department reviews how it corroborates information to confirm addresses and the location of investigative targets.
As soon as officers entered the apartment, the man inside immediately surrendered when he realized police were on the other side of the door, Stawinski said.
The man yelled, “‘You’ve got the wrong address! Don’t shoot my daughter!’?” according to Stawinski.
No criminal charges will be filed against the resident, who fired at police with a shotgun, said Stawinski, adding that police “did not draw the right conclusion” about their target.
“We served the search warrant at the address that we identified through the investigation, however the investigation led us to the wrong address,” Stawinski said. “The individual that we are targeting does not live at that address .?.?. a law-abiding, hard-working citizen of Prince George’s County and his daughter were home at the point where we were executing that search warrant.”
The incident began about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday as police were on the third floor of a garden-style apartment in the 2700 block of Lorring Drive in Forestville. Nine officers from the Emergency Services Team, essentially a SWAT team, knocked on the door and announced that they were police, department spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan said.
Hearing no response from inside, police began using a device to pry open the door to the unit, Donelan said. The man inside fired a shotgun at the team “as soon as they were able to open that door,” Donelan said.
An officer fired back but didn’t strike anyone inside the apartment, Donelan said. Two officers were wounded, one in the shoulder and one in the hand.
The resident and his daughter had fallen asleep in front of the television and did not hear police announce themselves, Stawinski said. When the father awoke to a commotion, he believed home invaders were trying to break in, and instructed his daughter to run and hide, Stawinski said.
“That individual acted to protect himself and to protect his daughter from what he believed to be the threat of home invasion,” Stawinski said. “I am confident that he did not intentionally fire that weapon at police officers because they were police officers .?.?. this man was devastated when he realized he had fired upon police officers.”
Category: Feel Good Stories
It is astounding that the mistake did not result in the father’s being shot. I can guess that the shotgun pellets hit the first two officers, causing those following to drop and cover outside the apartment. That bought the time needed for communication, thank goodness. Someone screwed up, big time, clearly never checking with the apartment manager or surveilling the apartment to ID the target. Sucks.
My thoughts too. I am either armed or within reach of a gun day and night. They must have realized in very short order it was the wrong house.
Nobody will be held accountable, particularly the Judge that signed the warrant. Seeking a financial settlement holds nobody but his neighbors who have to pay the bill accountable.
One of the reasons that swatting is a viable tactic to be used is that police departments are so prone to leap first and look later.
Add a total lack of accountability in many departments and certainly in the judicial system and you get a law enforcement system that can’t be governed.
I’m surprised that in the PDRMD the father and his daughter are not dead along with people in nearby apartments and a dog down the street.
Ret 25x….NO, that would happen if the FBI (phoebe) was doing the entry…phoebe likes to shoot up the whole neighborhood, gets them in the papers that way! imo
Unfortunately happens a LOT.
Usually the dog getting shot is the homeowners first clue.
Stuff of nightmares.
The element of surprise in the middle of the night works both ways. Ever poke a sleeping dog?
Nine officers from the Emergency Services Team knocked on the door and announced they were police. So they weren’t loud enough to wake up a father and daughter asleep in front of a television? Or did they want to practice a “no knock” entry at 10:30 PM? A “paid informant” probably provided the wrong address in his haste to get his next fix.
Kudos to the police chief for apologizing for the error and not charging the homeowner for shooting. Good to know both wounded police officers will recover. Hopefully, lessons learned go into the AAR and are incorporated into the team’s TTP. A man’s home is his castle, doctrinally speaking.
Remember when non-knock raids were suspended and cops were required to be in uniform (at least the lead cop is)? Same problem, bunch of people crashing through your door draws an armed response. Who believes “we’re the police!” when so many home invaders say the same thing. Bad time to be a cop, no easier when something like this happens.
Same kind of thing happened down here, cops got wrong house, homeowner shot and killed a cop, now they are charging him with murder!
Link to a story?
I’ll try and find it for you, it happened about a year ago. Very sad story.
Yep, happens a lot, probably more times than we hear about. Case 1 county east, swatting, paid informant told Sheriff Dprt, big time drug dealer in home. Big lie. LEO’s no knock, homeowner coming down hall with baseball bat, shot multiple times by LEO, killed. Taxpayers on hook for eventual civil suit against Sheriff. 1 county west, CI playing both sides, drug house set up ambush for LEO, supposed drugs. no weapons. 1 LEO killed, 2 wounded, medically retired. CI, oops, my bad wrong address, reputed to be in witness protection. It’s a dangerous world boys and girls. Trust no one.