Botched drug raid leaves 93-year old woman dead

[GTSteve03]

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/10374909/detail.html

Breaking news on my TV tonight. Atlanta PD serving a Narcotics warrant while undercover attempt to enter a 93-year old woman's home.

The woman opened fire and wounded 3 officers before she was shot dead. None of the officers wounds are life-threatening.

The news is calling it a "tragic case of mistaken identity."

[Zundfolge]

The news reporter is claiming the police announced who they were and knocked ... how much do you want to bet the "knock" was a boot kicking the door in.


THIS is why this asinine "war" on drugs needs to end.

[atblis]

about the wounded cops. They broke into her house. Too bad she wasn't better armed.

The Use of force was necessary

Obviously not. Wrong house monkeys.

[hankdatank1362]

How do y'all know that the granny wasn't slangin' and bangin'?

j/k

It was probably her grandson sellin rocks out of her back door that turned the attention of Johnny Law to her house.

but it sounds like we're on our way to a cop-bash-a-thon. Count me out.

BTW, the war on drugs is a great idea. Drug use is not a victimless crime. There are way too many families out there that are being ripped apart by drug use (usually something harder than marijuana)... it's just that sometimes the execution of the war on drugs is a little poor.

[grampster]

I totally concur with Zund. The war on some drugs needs to stop. It is insane.

[Manedwolf]

Won't stop. Pays too many salaries.

[Liberal Gun Nut]

Hey come on the WoD is totally worth it. I mean, who cares, she was 93. She was a burden on society by that point. And look at all that the WoD is doing for us. Drugs are as available as ever, prices are as low as ever, prison system is the biggest ever, I guess if you define "success" as the number of felons, then we're winning right?

[carterbeauford]

It was only a matter of time... best thing they could have done was run. The mantra is "you never shoot at a law enforcement officer, never, ever, for any reason, no matter what, really, we mean it, never, seriously, never, for real, never."

[Zundfolge]

Who cares
about the wounded cops. They broke into her house. Too bad she wasn't better armed.

I care about the wounded cops ... they're victims too ... victims of a combination of bad intel and flawed policies that allow for this kind of crap to happen.

Thats part of the reason the drug war needs to end. If nothing else for "Officer Safety".


Anyway, my prayers go out to this woman's family. She lived a long and apparently healthy life. She survived many decades of radical change in the south and yet she is killed by those charged with her protection.

Sad.

[brufener]

It seems like there are a lot of these botched no-knock raids.

A question for the LEOs or anyone else: Is it harder to get a warrant for a no-knock raid than for a regular search warrant?

Perhaps one way to avoid these sort of "mistaken identity" no-knock raid tragedies would be to have the judiciary require more of LEOs who ask for a no-knock warrant.

[hankdatank1362]

Prices aren't as low as ever.

Hell, prices of marijuana are skyrocketing here on the east coast, especially for anything better than commercial swag.

And cocaine...geez, the few folks that still get tooted are willing to pay damn good money for it.

[Sindawe]

Can't view the video from where I'm at at the moment. Any other sites with details available?

Was the house identified in the warrant that one where the warrant was served? Was there decent prior investigation before obtaining the warrant or was this an "anonymous tip"?

The mantra is "you never shoot at a law enforcement, never, ever, for any reason, no matter what, really, we mean it, never, seriously, never, for real, never."

No, the mantra when shooting a unknown home invaders is "Use enough gun, they may be wearing body armor."

[GTSteve03]

It seems like there are a lot of these botched no-knock raids.

Supposedly this wasn't a "no-knock" raid. However even with a knock raid they only have to give a few seconds before the door comes down.

And none of the officers were in uniform. How is a 93 year old woman supposed to know whether or not these are real cops or thugs from the neighborhood trying to kill her and steal her stuff?

[atblis]

That's exactly what they were. Home invaders.

[carterbeauford]

No, the mantra when shooting a unknown home invaders is "Use enough gun, they may be wearing body armor."

To clarify, I should have said "SWAT's mantra"

I am as vehement a critic of paramilitary police raids as you are going to find. Shooting at cops is not really how anyone wants to leave this world, something has got to change.

[hankdatank1362]

Serving a no-knock warrant in civvies has got to be the dumbest thing ever.

[GTSteve03]

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/10374909/detail.html

I updated the link in the first post. News is reporting the woman even had a permit for her gun. At least one of the people involved seemed to have the paperwork right. Too bad the other wrong paperwork caused her to lose her life.

[ceetee]

You've lived in the same neighborhood for twenty years. You've seen the neighborhood sinking down into lawlessness. You hear the gunfire ringing out night after night.

Three guys in street clothes bang on your door after dark claiming to be cops. After "knocking", they do their best to kick the door in. They have a hard time taking the door down (a testament to the way houses were built in the old days). As they're trying to kick the door in, how do you respond?

After seeing the reports, I'd say Hotlanta PD has some explaining to do. Is it normal for non-uniformed personnel to execute narcotics search warrants after dark? Did they even have the right address? If so, then how did they get that address?

If I was Auntie's nephew, I'd be shouting it from the rooftops...

[Car Knocker]

Too bad the other wrong paperwork caused her to lose her life.

What wrong paperwork is that?

[Sindawe]

Thanks GTSteve03, for the additional link.

Authorities say they received a tip of drug activity taking place at the home and officers were headed to the house with a search warrant.

A "tip" eh? I still have to wonder what additional (if any) investigation was done.

[cbsbyte]

Move along people...nothing to see here. This will all be done and buried within a week. Even the local news media seems to be making the old women out to be a criminal for shooting the cops.

[Joe7cri]

How about a positive visual identification before executing a warrant. I'd love to know how much this will cost Atlanta in the settlement and I only hope that these officers have nightmares for the rest of their lives for what they've done.


For those of you who say you shouldn't shoot at the police, all I can say is if your dress like a Thug (all black w/ full face masks, etc...), kick in my door, I will do everything possible to empty every mag I have into you and your gang, I mean team.

[fjolnirsson]

I'm not anti cop. I believe there is a time and place, as well as a purpose for peace officers. I have many friends who are cops. Hel, I've been through the police academy, and at one time wanted to be a cop more than anything.
That said, when is it enough? How many bodies? How many of our men and women in and out of uniform have to die on both sides of this "war"?
How much blood is enough to put Prohibition 2 to rest?

[LightningJoe]

The war on drugs isn't about a final victory. It's about keeping the lid on. Take that lid off and all the whiners would figure it out eventually, but it'd be too late.


As for cops busting down your door in civilian clothes, Hell awaits them.


Should I start using a rifle for home defense? .308 Winchester will go through just about anything a person can wear.

[FM2Wildcat]

There has got to be a better way. The issues at hand boggle the mind to try and find a realistic and workable answer. This country is in deep trouble.