At this point the government has lost the benefit of the doubt for a lot of people.  I'm sure the bodycameras will show the perfect little angel cops doing everything they could do de-escalate and clearly communicate.

Not bang, scream, yell, and start blasting because "officer safety."

That they didn't blame the homeowner for pointing the gun at them and/or shooting first tells me a LOT about what likely went down.

Its fucking disgraceful how far the cops and the tbl crew on this site will stretch to make this the dead guys fault while trying to convince everyone else the killer had any sort of justification.

It’s like a Rambo movie!

The police were wrong, because they were at the wrong goddamn house.

Not reading 8 pages. But:
1)Dumbasses shouldn't go answering front doors to the unknown with a gun in unidentifieds face that is unseen. Same reason I carry concealed or at least keep gun hidden from sight until threat is identified. Homeowner could easily have survived using prudence.
2)Hope wife sues BIGLY!! None of this should have happened. Cops went to WRONG HOUSE. Brainless trigger happy cop simply sees a gun and starts firing. Case closed.

110%

Mrs. Dotson will be paid well for wrongful death of her husband, of the responding police to the wrong home.

Sounds like they didn't verify the physical addresses of the homes

But the city will shell out a few million dollars though. But agree they'll never see criminal charges

These threads are almost as common as pit bull threads.

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It looks as if 5305 address has camera's located on the side and front if the home(corner and middle garage door).

I had a hunch the cops should of went to the dumpy house. Can't see a address or mailbox. Attached File
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Bottom pic is actually 5305

Qualified Immunity doesn’t work like Cop haters try to make everyone think it does.

It is granted when an officer makes a good faith decision that may end up being wrong. It is a CIVIL protection NOT a Criminal one.  It does not protect an officer who is willfully negligent or violated the law from facing criminal prosecution.

lol, they’ll shoot you through the window.

You’re rightly fucked if the popo show up to your door expecting a fight.

They get away with it.

Hell there have even been instances where they’ve shot through the walls of a trailer house, and killed the unarmed individual after he came outside to waive them off.

Yes and some old dude was blasted as he peaked out to see who was prowling around.

So should it be in place when they gun down a civilian that wasn't committing a crime?

What if I told you there is a separate but equal branch of government . Aka the judicial branch that will take on this question and use case law as well as the facts and circumstances of the case to determine whether they will be granted Qualified Immunity? Which only protects them from being personally sued.

I don’t know all the facts of this case other than what’s been posted. Sounds to me like the perfect storm of terrible.

Domestic Violence call, wrong address and no answer, dispatch has the dude who called step out, at the same time the dude at the wrong address steps out with a firearm. Further adding to their belief that this is the guy they are supposed to make contact with. It’s a shit sandwich.

Another factor is whether or not prior similar history at the wrong house may have led them to the mistake. Also factor in the very common element of dispatch priming, this can come as a result of a confused or lying caller in combination with a dispatcher relaying information inaccurately and the information the police were given created and escalated the situation before they even arrived on scene.

Based on the totality of those circumstances were they wrong? Who knows, in that moment they weren’t. Domestic Violence calls are often hostile and dangerous so it’s not unexpected for one party to be potentially armed and dangerous on arrival.

On the flip side was the guy answering the door at a late hour to potentially unknown persons, intent on doing him harm, was he wrong to be armed?

No, but what information did he also have prior to opening that door? Did he know it was the Police, maybe he hated cops and thought they were there to take his guns and he also made poor decisions.

Both sides could have made different decisions that lead up to it, but in that split second moment I don’t think they were wrong, at the same time these things can’t be looked at based on a snippet of an entire situation.

Both sides of this were right and wrong at different times.



Here’s a hypothetical scenario based off of this event.

Let’s say 5 officers responded to this call, 4 arrived first on scene and went to the wrong house. Officer 5 is still a few minutes out and still responding to an active Domestic incident.

Officer 5 finally arrives on scene with multiple marked units in front of what turned out to be the wrong house. He’s acting in good faith however on his part that the other 4 are at the right house so he’s not going to set there looking at house numbers and analyze that aspect of the call.

As he’s walking up to meet and assist his fellow officers the male comes outside armed with a firearm and presents in on such a way that it’s perceived as an active threat. Officer 5 who literally just got there is the first to see the gun and whatever behaviors followed. He draws and shoots the armed man.

These things aren’t black and white which is why case law exists and why qualified immunity exists. Split second decisions judged by a society who are unwilling and will never be put into that same position themselves. #america.

Sue that department for every cent they have.

Maybe that will help some learn how to read.

In other news, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, a couple at 5308 Valley View Avenue, say they have never been more deeply in love.  Mr. Jones said "that's it for me, no more screaming and cussing".

That sure is a lot of words completely ignoring why not even looking at a mailbox or house number could make it justified.

Those are a lot of unnecessary words. An innocent man is dead. He was killed by officers in his own home. Anything else is distraction.
ETA The men who killed him need to face the consequences for their action. Financially and judicially.

Only people screwed are the dead guy and his wife and the taxpayers. The incompetent, trigger happy cops won’t really be impacted.

+1. The most basic of all things is completely blanked out.

Making sure your good faith and actions are even remotely valid/justified by being exactly where you are supposed to be. It was made inexcusable the instant they knocked on the door.

Not true.  They get a paid vacation.

Shooter might be so upset he'll medically retire due to PTSD and we'll support him.

Yeesh. Who the hell answers a door with a gun visible in hand, thats not a good idea.  I hide mine behind the door when I open it, or have it holstered.  And I look to see who's out there first.

Cops shouldn't have shot him unless he gave them more reason than just a gun in hand.

Sort of, they can go knock on anyone's door. As can anyone else, which is why answering a door with a gun visible isn't a great idea.

Ive yet to meet someone that was on admin leave (paid or unpaid) due to a shooting/in custody death that viewed the time as a vacation. Especially since you are typically on 24 hour callback.

I've learned in my time on BARFCOM that the tbl crew can never be wrong even when they shoot someone who has committed no crime believing it was someone else because of their own gross negligence and incompetence. You learn something new every day. They are to be commended because they went home safe and the person they shot probably deserved it anyway, he may have had too many guns in his house.

You are judging the lawful actions of a free man on his own property? Who are you?

Anyone in any profession on admin is sweating. To say otherwise is to have never been a professional.

Would you like links to articles where police shot the innocent homeowners through their windows?

Sounds rational.

Any links with actual data to support the point?

And now he's dead. Is it his fault?  No, but he could have prevented it.  Answering the door with a gun in hand is also a good way to catch criminal charges in some places when someone fabricates a story about the gun being actually pointed at them and can describe it.

The problem with your argument is it could have been a cell phone or even a flashlight in his hand. If the responders are so hyped that even checking an address is beyond their capability then dead is dead.
As other posters have pointed out, there have been more than enough cases on video showing this.

Seeing as we are doing hypothetical scenarios.........

Here is mine.

Police arrive at wrong house.

They knock. They may or may not have identified themselves.

The husband did not hear any dentification ( or none was given ) and approached the door carrying ( not pointing at officers )

Officer panicked and opened fire. If any warnings were shouted during this panic, they did not involve identifying themselves as police.

Because, the police press release has revealed that the wife returned fire at the officers then stopped when she realised they were police. So, she ( and probably the husband ) were unaware they were police.

The question remains - why were they unaware ?

1. The police did not identify themselves while knocking.

Or

2. The occupants did not hear it ( or did not believe it )

Hopefully the bodycam footage will clear it up.

In my opinion, the officers ( not deliberately ) created the peril in this situation. Any response to it is not relevant ( mistakes in how occupants responded ).

In the same way that evidence found in an illegal search is not admissible ( fruit of the poison tree ) - I believe that any loss or damage caused by an officers mistake should be the fault of the police.

In every other walk of life - if loss, damage or death occurs as the result of a mistake, somebody pays.

They've always been given the green light to troll at will, while having special protections in place when they have threads where there can't be even the slightest question or speculation raised regarding why certain things may have happened.

TBL is the rule here. It isn't changing. The stacking of mods and staff from those ranks wasn't an accident. It does seem like there has been at least a half hearted effort to bring in some new, better blood. There's still a loooong way to go..

Tough life. Murder someone due to being an incompetent fool, and have to be on callback? The travesty!

That girl that got raped really isn’t at fault. But wearing that skirt really makes it hard to not rape her. So if she would have made better choices, she wouldn’t have been raped.

The second amendment doesn't apply to you because an officer got a phone call....

The ACAB crew is furiously master bating to this incident.

In fairness, at least one officer is baiting with the "Yes, they went to the wrong house but husband is dead because of HIS actions"

Then there is the eejit who coined the phrase "Answering the door in a criminal manner"

Nah. You guys love it when the police make a mistake.

Yup. I'd support this. Sadly we'll be lucky if they even get a slap on the wrist. They should also be liable to be sued civilly. Not going to keep my hopes up on that one, either.

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I doubt Farmington has much in the way of money to pay out in a settlement.

You fellas have some serious insecurities to get this emotional in protecting your career field.

Whoever shot him should be in prison for manslaughter.  He made a mistake and killed someone.  All of us would face manslaughter charges for something like that.

I’m just pointing out the obvious.  They hear a story like this and then it’s a mad rush to go find a sweat sock.