Atlanta-area police officer shot after responding to wrong home...whoops!

If one goes to google maps (l ink to google map street view of the street) and checks the street view of the street where this took place, one will see that there are a large number of houses which could be "... described as a brick and tan one-story home." (quote from GBI news release).

It would seem to me that if there are multiple houses which would fit the description given, then it should behoove the police to determine that they were entering the correct house of said description. Heck, if the responding officers would have gotten the contact information from the person p who placed the call, I imagine he would have had no problem indicating which house he was concerned with and this entire incident would never have happened.

Common sense, not all that common.

a reply to: butcherguy

www.dailycamera.com... i guess its standard operating procedure to if you encounter an unlocked door (least in co) that the cops will let themselves into your home to "check on you" even if you are not home

Boulder residents who intentionally leave their doors open, may unintentionally be inviting a Boulder police officer in for a visit. Chrissy Smiley learned this fact in surprising fashion on Thursday afternoon when she returned to her south Boulder condo after a 40-minute walk with her dogs to find a card from a Boulder police officer sitting on her dining room table. Disturbed by the discovery, Smiley said she quickly called the officer back to ask why he had entered her home without her permission.

so i guess they are trying to treat "unlocked doors" as probable cause

originally posted by: RalagaNarHallas
a reply to: butcherguy

www.dailycamera.com... i guess its standard operating procedure to if you encounter an unlocked door (least in co) that the cops will let themselves into your home to "check on you" even if you are not home

Boulder residents who intentionally leave their doors open, may unintentionally be inviting a Boulder police officer in for a visit. Chrissy Smiley learned this fact in surprising fashion on Thursday afternoon when she returned to her south Boulder condo after a 40-minute walk with her dogs to find a card from a Boulder police officer sitting on her dining room table. Disturbed by the discovery, Smiley said she quickly called the officer back to ask why he had entered her home without her permission.

so i guess they are trying to treat "unlocked doors" as probable cause

Wow, that is some really creepy stuff.

originally posted by: jefwane
Most of the the reports right now are saying that the officer who was shot, was shot by another police officer.

WSB Atlanta, the local ABC affiliate has this posted on a link at their site.

WSB Comments

My friends brother was the one that originally called the police. Here is what he had to say.
9 hrs · Atlanta, GA · Shaking trying to type this right now. I was out walking my dog Diego. I live on a dead end street, walking towards the cul-de-sac. There is a man a ways in front of me (saw him walk into the neighborhood) that walks to the farthest house at the end of the street, knocks on the front door, and then kind of just stands in the front yard for a few mins. Seems a little sketch considering I have seen the house owner before and it was't him and there have been several reported break-ins down that way. I gave him the benefit of the doubt however (maybe he walked to the store, locked out, etc) and turned around and started walking back towards my house. Diego stops to sniff something and I turn around and now the guy is nowhere to be seen. I then hear a loud sound and then dogs barking. I stand around a second and don't see anyone come out. Kind of concerned at this point I call 911 and describe the house at the end of the cul-de-sac as well as the 50 year old black male and what he was wearing. I also told them that I wasn't sure anything was actually going on, and I wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble, but I felt like something wasn't right. A few minutes later I am getting back to the house (opposite the cul-de-sac, towards the entrance of our street) in front of my front door, when I heard 5 or 6 gunshots very close by and heard a woman screaming. Turned around and saw blue police lights already flashing and people yelling. I fumbled my keys and went inside, terrified. About a min or two later I peek my head outside and see one of my neighbors about 3 houses down (opposite direction from my walk) holding his leg and yelling something to the effect of "You killed my dog!" and "You shot me in my own house! Meanwhile the wife of the man was clutching their one year old child, hysterically walking down the street to a neighbors house. More cops come in, shotguns blazing. Cops running everywhere at this point. Meanwhile the wife is crying and telling the neighbors across from me what had happened. The frantic young wife was obviously furious and scared as she described cops coming in their back door and shooting her husband and shooting and killing their dog. An officer stayed with the man (white, young 30s) while he was still up the street in his own driveway, clutching his leg where he had been shot by the officer. According to neighbors during the chaos, an officer accidentally shot another officer. Both were taken away from the scene in an ambulance. I was later interviewed by a detective and provided them my full testimony since my 911 call was the call that the police were responding to. the Associated Press who requested to talk to me on the phone. (They were able to reach me because Ronnie my girlfriend was not able to get home after work and was talking to me on the phone outside of the neighborhood and the reporter asked to talk to me.) I did this because already on the news they were spinning the story. There was a report of a "manhunt" and a search for a "suspect". The "suspect" (or at least the suspicious person I called the cops on at the other end of the neighborhood) came walking back up to the crime scene shortly after. After speaking to him I realized that he was the person I had seen and he said he was trying to get someone to pay him for cutting their grass. I feel awful because I explicitly said on the 911 call that I was unsure if anything was actually going on but I had a bad feeling after hearing the loud noise and dogs barking, especially with all the recent break-ins. The cops actually never interviewed him (which at that point I don't think it mattered because it seemed pretty clear he hadn't stolen something or done anything wrong and walked up the street to a crime scene to talk about it). I am writing this partly as catharsis because I feel terrible that this all happened as a result. I'm also writing this because the news and media are already spinning this story to say that a police officer was shot in the line of duty while responding to a burglary call. While I give them credit for owning up to the fact that it was the wrong house (albeit presumably after I had given testimony to Associated Press), what they fail to highlight in this clickbait link is that this man who was sitting in his own house watching a movie with his wife was shot in the leg and his dog was murdered in his own house with his new baby in the house. The story is not "Let's all feel sympathetic for the cop that just killed a family's dog and and shot the unarmed homeowner in his own home." I want to say first off that I know a cops job is very hard and I respect the job and the men and women serving when they do it the right way. This was NOT the right way. I explicitly said a house at the end of the cul-de-sac yet the media said the house "matched the description". I never even gave them an address. If you hear news telling you different they are manipulating the story.

Apparently it was copied from a blog or website from the guy who initially called the cops and lives on the street.

Edit to add: I've tried finding the original source for that paste job at WSB, but can't as of yet.


GBI Press Release

As I thought. If the resident were to have shot the cops or had a firearm, the police would have made it known immediately. It appears that this was a case of poor training and/or confusion.

We can be sure that there will be a lawsuit.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

The thing I never understand is "Police identified themselves..." as in, they said... "POLICE"


But here's the thing, anyone can say that. Just because someone shouts "POLICE" while breaking into your home, its not like your first instinct is to say "Oh yay, the good guys are here!", especially when they aren't supposed to be there in the first place.

And I realize its a crime to impersonate police, but if someone is breaking into your house anyway, its not like they have a huge respect for the law.
Edit: [and yes, before its mentioned I do realize there are other means of identification, and if they are properly dressed I can understand reasonable assumption they are in fact legitimate police officers]

a reply to: butcherguy

There was a guy just this week that got busted for this. He had lights on his car and everything, only reason he got busted was because he pulled over an off duty police officer, a real one.

Fake police

Back on topic, this is like the third time I've seen a report of the police messing up an address. How hard is it to double check an address? It's not like the address are hidden. Other wise the post office would complain long be for the police would arrive.

We really need to go back and check who's training our police, and maybe run a stricter screening.

So one officer shot another, not the homeowner. Huh. That is really so much worse. I'm glad I don't live in that town.

And as far as the milk bone comment with the dog.

Hey, how hard is it, in most of these cases where the dog gets shot, to have the officer ask the dog owner to restrain their dog before doing anything else?

There have been too many of these cases where the owners were present, but they shoot first anyway. They are idiots.

a reply to: chiefsmom

Hey, how hard is it, in most of these cases where the dog gets shot, to have the officer ask the dog owner to restrain their dog before doing anything else?

Right on, my dear.
Plus the fact that the police had no business in these people's home anyway!

originally posted by: Vasa Croe enter and apparently identify themselves upon entering according to the story /quote]

i call BS on that part. that's not how they roll these days.

So they break into the wrong house shoot the dog the homeowner and each other? What in the actual F###?

I mean cmon first its breaking and entering then its use of a firearm while committing a felony,

You cant just enter someones home because the door is unlocked, then start effing shooting.

JAIL JAIL JAIL For all three of them.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

The police were in the dogs home late at night .If the dog was aggressive thats his job.
I have a toy poodle he is a very nice and friendly dog,but try to get in my house with out me letting you in and he'll chew off your ankles

a reply to: KawRider9
that's funny, we have a maine coon cat named sketchy,
His full name is bigun sketchy. none of the five cats we have are even a little bit mean.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: jefwane
Thanks for posting that info.
The GBI confirms that the homeowner shot no one AND that the cops shot one of their own.

Trigger-happy much?

The shaky part of the GBI release is that the cops say that they tried to contact the occupants of the house but no reply, so they entered an unlocked back door.
I have trouble believing this.

I have no problem believing the cops banged on the door especially if there was a door bell in plain sight.

I live in a motorhome in a RV park and have a plainly marked door bell. is says in two inch letters right above the bell button "door bell".

Yet for the last 4 years since i moved into the park no one has used the door bell and everyone beats on the door.
The problem is i can not tell when i am in bed if someone is beating on my door or the doors of the trailers around me. So i never get up to answer a knock on the door.

i know for a fact cops never ring door bells they always beat on the door

Dekalb police are the epitome of whats wrong with law enforcement these days. Some of the most corrupt police in GA. I've been to dekalb co. jail and am currently on probation at the moment. Some of the most corrupt people ive seen. Guarentee the cops will get off with no reprocussions.

a reply to: boncho

The real question is why they thought (other than to cover their asses...which is what happened) that an unlocked door = "breaking and entering".

Obviously, it's a ruse to claim that they had exigence. But what burglar unlocks the door? If the home had been broken into, it would have been broken and entered. Not unlocked. Unless the crook was able to pick locks.

Grant you, I can do that on the fly. But it's an unusual skill. Simply finding an unlocked door doesn't mean it was a breakin.

Certainly not one that warranted entering without announcement and then shooting the homeowner's dog.

The cap on the night's entertainment was the total incompetence demonstrated by shooting each other.

Total asshats. They ought to be decertified and then put in the pokey. But of course, that won't happen, because cop.

originally posted by: Sublimecraft

A tradesman knows to measure twice and cut once, you'd think the cops would check that house number before they raid wouldn't you?

Screw that! Bust in, shoot anything that moves! HOOAH!

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: chiefsmom


What would you suggest they do with aggressive dogs? Milk bone?

Ask the homeowner to restrain the dog.

My god, is that so hard? Cops are supposed to protect and serve, not act like roving bands of executioners. They are there to serve the homeowner. Give the homeowner a chance to lock up the dog before you enter their house.

I really feel like that in this case, the cop fully deserved to get shot in the leg. If they want respect they need to earn it by not acting like licensed murderers.

originally posted by: PeachesNCream
Dekalb police are the epitome of whats wrong with law enforcement these days. Some of the most corrupt police in GA. I've been to dekalb co. jail and am currently on probation at the moment. Some of the most corrupt people ive seen. Guarentee the cops will get off with no reprocussions.

Dekalb , Fulton , Cobb , the list goes on. If you are not from Georgia , keep movin on through those. And make dang sure you obey all traffic laws. Especially females.

originally posted by: RalagaNarHallas
a reply to: butcherguy

www.dailycamera.com... i guess its standard operating procedure to if you encounter an unlocked door (least in co) that the cops will let themselves into your home to "check on you" even if you are not home

The further one reads the creepier that story gets…

Smiley took up the issue Boulder police Sgt. Michael Everett, who in an email response to her inquiry, explained that entering unsecured residences is standard operating procedure for most law enforcement agencies, including, Boulder police, and one that is not likely to stop.

"There are many reasons for checking residences that are left open," Everett wrote in his response. "They include in-progress crimes and injured parties inside. There are situations which create a duty for officers to enter and check residences. Failure to do so creates liability for that officer and agency."

He added that the practice is backed by sound legal reasoning and is consistent with best practices for law enforcement agencies.

Boulder police spokeswoman Laurie Ogden supported Everett's statements.

She noted that the officer was visiting Smiley's home to follow up on another officer's attempt to serve her a summons for a dog off leash violation and failure to remove animal excrement.

So, nobody home now means crime in progress and entry required.

Was Chief Wiggam and Barney Fife on the case again? It's like Idiocracy has become reality. I've said this before but in my ten years of working on a different address every week never once have I worked on the wrong house or got into a squabble in some residence I had no business being in? How stupid do you have to be to get the wrong house in a situation where you better damn well be getting the right house!!!