"Police killed man after serving warrant to wrong home"

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There are a lot of questions surrounding the deadly shooting of a 61-year-old Laurel County man this week, by London police officers who say they were there to serve a search warrant. "I heard five shots," says a neighbor, who does not want to be identified. "At least five shots. Woke me up. I was laying on the couch." Neighbors are still in disbelief and looking for answers as to why London Police were at the door of 61-year-old Doug Harless the night of December 23rd. One neighbor walked us through what they say happened that night. "My wife looked out the back door and said, Doug's house is all lit up. At that time, we had seen several cop cars up and down the road and I contacted his daughter. She sent her husband out here to find out that her dad was deceased. The cops had shot him."

London Police say they were attempting to execute a search warrant at a home on Vanzant Rd. In Laurel County. In a press release, officers say Harless pointed a gun at officers, and that's when an officer opened fire. Harless died as a result. "But now everything is breaking out, whether the search warrant was for 489, which is right here on this corner, two doors down from Doug. They are looking for the guy that lives there in that house for a stolen weed eater." Neighbors say Harless was a victim, not a criminal. Carl Merritt and his wife live just across the road and caught the shooting on their surveillance camera. "Well it shows on the camera that there were police officers on his porch and they announced that they were there," explained Merritt. "They banged and banged and banged, until they finally made their way through the man's door and with not even making it completely through the door, they shot him. I mean it was just that quick."

Merritt says Kentucky State Police now has that surveillance footage. Family and friends of Harless, as well as the community, are looking for justice. "He was a very quiet, humble person," says Merritt. "Stayed to himself, never bothered nobody. For something like that to happen to that poor man, it hurts me really. To think that somebody like that, especially in my backyard, being shot you know? In his own home." London Mayor, Randall Weddle, released this statement: The London City Police has released a statement, and my office will closely follow the investigation being conducted by the Kentucky State Police. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this incident. The family and friends of the individual remain in our thoughts and prayers as well as the officers involved. I want to remind everyone that this is an open investigation, so I am limited in what I can say at this time. Let's allow the Kentucky State Police to thoroughly investigate this situation.
https://www.lex18.com/news/covering-ken ... wrong-home

Is the Kentucky State Police an objective police entity, maybe Hiker and BP will comment.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: "Police killed man after serving warrant to wrong home"

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Pronus wrote: Mon Dec 30, 2024 10:27 am Am I reading this right? They got a warrant to retrieve a weed eater? I've left mine on the porch, next to a bottle of J.D. and still can't get rid of the thing.
Yup, you've got it right it was all about a stolen weed eater and their warrant was for another house. And a 61 year old man who could have been hard of hearing or with poor eyesight or maybe enjoying an evening cocktail went to the door armed and was killed by cops.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: "Police killed man after serving warrant to wrong home"

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I saw that report come through over the weekend, too. Other reporting suggests that the CORRECT address was repeated at least three times over police radio.

My first thought is that the ability to read Arabic numbers (and read in general) isn't a prerequisite for being a cop. That's the second event I've heard of in the last week where cops broke down the wrong door. No telling how many times that happens that the resident doesn't become a victim of police violence, er, violent gang activity.

And I'm sure many of you remember the perhaps-apocryphal tale about how many parents got mad that their kids were learning Arabic numerals in school.

KSP has investigatory power over local PDs, sometimes. They are no more or less competent than the average department, but are supposed to be less biased in how they look at how local cops do their job. No word yet on how this will shake out.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

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