LAKE COUNTY, Fla. –
Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and killed a man they assumed was an attempted murder suspect on Sunday, but they now know they shot the wrong man.
In the early-morning hours, deputies knocked on 26-year-old Andrew Lee Scott’s door without identifying themselves as law enforcement officers. Scott answered the door with a gun in his hand.
“When we knocked on the door, the door opened and the occupant of that apartment was pointing a gun at deputies, and that’s when we opened fire and killed him,” Lt. John Herrell said. “Even though this subject is not the one we were looking for when he opened the door. He was pointing the gun at the deputy and if you put yourselves in the deputy’s shoes. They were there to pick up someone who was wanted for an attempted homicide.”
Officials said the deputies did not identify themselves because of safety reasons.
Deputies thought they were confronting Jonathan Brown, a man accused of attempted murder. Brown was spotted at the Blueberry Hills Apartment complex and his motorcycle was parked across from Andrew Scott’s front door.
“It’s just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you’re going to get shot,” Herrell said.
Residents said the unannounced knock at the door at 1:30 a.m. may be the reason why the tragedy happened.
“He was the wrong guy and he got shot and killed anyway. There’s fault on both sides. I think more so on the county,” Ryan Perry said. “I can understand why he [the deputy] did it, but it should have never gone down like that,” Perry said.
Scott’s friend, LeMac Blount said he thinks law enforcement acted too quickly.
“I think because his motorcycle was parked in front of Andrew’s door, it wasn’t safe to assume that that was where he was at. I think they should of took other precautions,” said Blout.
the cops have a monopoly of force. a monopoly on reality.
they entered the apt and shot him.
he was holding a cellphone; deadbolt key; or tv remote
he had the gun in his wasteband
only the state magis can interpret the star signs of our fates
he was a sorcerer or had incurred jupiters wrath
the gods choose our rulers. it is an evil sin to believe otherwise.
the no knock seance is a sacred rite
all hail the angels of death. halleluia.
theres more rationality to be found in a remote botswana voodoo temple than in usa media and news mask and drum dances.
Notice, also, that this story – and stories like it – just disappear down the memory hole. No 24-7 hairshirting such as we’ve had to endure over the death of St. Trayvon.
The irony of the whole story as it reads, is that the guy had the gun in the cops faces and he probably thought “Oh, it’s cops, they’re the good guys.” and didn’t bother shooting them. And since he didn’t shoot them, he got shot instead.
Dear Michael,
He thought the cops were the good guys?
That is ironic.
The article doesn’t say that. Dead men tell no tales, as it were. But if he had a gun pointed at the cops–it only takes a split second to pull the trigger. What would have stopped him? My guess is the assumption that the cops are good guys, and since he hadn’t done anything bad, he had nothing to fear.
Although I can see from my post how my sentence structure gave the impression that the article would have said he assumed that. The assumption is my inference. The article just says he pointed the gun at the cops after opening the door, before he was shot to death.
Dear Michael,
Don’t worry. I didn’t read too much into to it.
I know it was to some extent merely your inference.
I was merely indulging in some gallows humor.
Having spent a year in Law Enforcement on the MD/DC line it was my experience that a large percentage of cops carried “drop guns”. The guns were usually untraceable pieces confiscated from suspects and saved by cops to drop on a suspect shot accidently.
So, when half the cops are willing to use drop guns, how many would say the man pointed the gun at them when all he did was hold it at his side?
It is also common training in many areas for cops who simply spot a gun between seats at a traffic stop to yell”GUN!”at the top of their lungs and go into high adrenaline combat mode.
It’s a good way to get Deputy Fife all fired up and shake one off accidently.
Hey Clik,
I don’t doubt this for a moment – which is why I carry concealed (lawfully) even though VA is a legal open carry state. When I am pulled over or otherwise am forced to deal with a cop, the first thing out of my mouth is always:
I have a CHP. I am armed. My pistol is in my waistband (or glove box). How do you want to proceed?
This is done with both hands on top of the wheel, in plain sight.
Technically, it is legal to have a gun just sitting on the seat, or on your lap. But I don’t like the idea of setting myself up for a “justified shooting.” The system is grossly stacked against the citizen in favor of the cop – whose word will be taken as gospel truth even when it’s the grossest of lies – while the word of a citizen will be treated presumptively as the grossest of lies absent overwhelming supporting evidence such as a video recording. But if there is no supporting evidence – if there is no video, no other witnesses – you’re screwed. You may already be dead.
Anyone who doubts this is the reality out there is at best naive.
Cops are not your friends. Their job is not to protect your rights and keep the peace. It is to enforce the law – and cover their asses.
Learn it. Live it.
The way cops are so afraid of people who are armed, even in routine circumstances speaks to the basic criminality of their profession.
Also speaks to the general laziness wrt how they use the traffic stop to ‘find’ people that are wanted despite having current and valid information on where they live and/or work or other places they can be easily found. A fugitive can live in plain sight and if he can avoid being pulled over he’ll remain free. (provided of course his crimes are minor enough not to get on america’s most wanted or something)
“He was the wrong guy and he got shot and killed anyway. There’s fault on both sides.” Bullshit there is fault on one side alone, but this is always how they spin it.
Kinda the way I see it too Brad.
Wouldn’t this be a classic situation where a Grand Jury should be called instead of allowing an “internal affairs” style investigation?
Sounds like the perfect time to me. I don’t see how “justice” will prevail any other way.
This actually reminds me of the Zimmerman thing in a way. I will not be one to pass judgment, but it does seem that Zimmerman had more cause to use deadly force than these cops did. One of the points they make about Zimmerman is that he didn’t identify himself. Well, neither did they.
Yup.
And unlike Saint Trayvon, this dude was sleeping in his own damn home. He wasn’t out looking for trouble; he wasn’t being “provocative.” Dude was in bed, in his home… they came to him! They – the cops – were the clear aggressors. Without any cause or pretext – beyond incompetence and trigger-happiness.
This poor guy hears loud noises, unknown men apparently trying to force their way into his home for god only knows what reason. Clearly, for no good reason – from his point of view. They are either going to rob him or kill him. Maybe both. What else could it be?
So the guy – quite reasonably – gets his legally owned gun, goes to investigate/confront whoever the hell it is that’s trying to bust into his damn home in the middle of the night … and is gunned down in cold blood.
But here’s a prediction: Jesse and Al will not march. There will not be mass protests. No kangaroo court for the cops, either.
Kangaroo courts can be arranged…. Someone just have to have the sheer stones to do it and say nothing afterwards.
It is truly amazing how often these stories occur. I’ve found 1 a week since I first started blogging, and I’m not looking for these stories.
Has anyone ever had an interaction with a cop that wasn’t irritating and pointless?
So far, no.
All my interactions have involved various traffic infractions – that is, violations of statutory BS, such as “speeding.”
When I see a cop, I don’t feel safe. I feel a headache coming on…
I had an encounter just recently. My car was overheating in a rainstorm at midnight on a remote mountain road. My wife had accidentally left the car in 4WD before climbing the hill and when she took it out it failed to unlock. When we got to the top of the hill I drifted through a stop sign and headed for the parking area of a State Park with the idea that I’d back it up and try to unlock the transfer case. I had no sooner pulled into the lot when very bright lights came on behind me, preventing me from backing up. I got out of the car to ask the person to pull around so I could fix the thing when red and blue lights came on. I was loudly instructed to “get back in your vehicle”.
Apparently a park ranger had witnessed me drifting through the stop sign on my way to the parking area.
He let me go without a ticket after hearing my story. Does that count?
How much intelligence does it take to know that a person with a gun and an intent to use it on a cop isn’t going to open the door? There was fault on both sides? How? If I want to open the door to my home while I’m holding a gun that’s my business. At one in the morning? Unannounced? Unexpected? Hell yes. If it was me though I’d be on the second floor deck behind a concrete railing and they’d hear “Drop your weapons and put your hands where I can see them” before they even saw me. The only reason those two “deputies” got a chance to kill that man was he lived in an apartment instead of a house.
The “deputies” responsible should, and I hope will, go to prison for this. For a very very long time.
You are right on the money! Also, I bet they try to dig some bullshit up on this guy and claim that validates their moves.
C’mon Scott, we all know exactly what’s going to happen.
They’ll be put on “administrative leave”–paid vacation. Mean while internal affairs–another group of cops paid by the same State–will “investigate” the incident.
After four to six weeks, or however long it takes to drop off the media’s radar, they’ll be exonerated as:
“Having followed department procedure”
Or any one of numerous similar euphemisms for “Fuck you citizen, we do as we please.”
After all, they felt threatened. And it was only a civilian.
I agree – that’s exactly what will happen.
These guys should be put to sleep. They murdered a completely innocent man – a man not even suspected of having committed so much as a traffic violation; a man who had every right to respond as he did to the sound of armed strangers banging on his door in the middle of the night. And who was murdered for it. Murdered by government goons, acting under color of law – which makes it even worse. At least if this poor guy had been killed by ordinary street thugs, there’d be a warrant out for the arrest of said goons and said goons would surely face prosecution and probable conviction and do hard time, if not get the needle. But these costumed killers? At most, they’ll lose their jobs – and probably not even that.
It’s a real wake-up call (as if we needed more of that)…
Some only notice if whacked on head by a 2×4 board.
Yep. We all know.
Do they use “procedure” in some parts of the country? I always hear it as “policy”. Effectively the same thing but these words they use are chosen carefully for effect.
When we built our house–concrete and steel–I specified that all outside doors were to be steel-clad solid-core, set in steel frames butted into the concrete.
And they all open OUTWARD. Good luck using a battering ram; you’ll get a Gene Simmons workout.
But I’m starting to consider further fortifications against the thug class. I’m not at all concerned with common thieves; they won’t get in, but if they do they’ll be met with a hail of fast-moving lead.
The State thugs, however–how to defend against these animals?
One idea I’m playing with is non-lethal: slippy foam, stuff that was developed for riot control. It’s a water-based synthetic slime that is so slippery it’s almost impossible to stand up. Mount a tank above the door and dump it in case of imminent invasion.
It will at least give time to call the media and a lawyer while they regroup.
Think about mining your road if it’s private. A less dramatic method is one I’ve seen in Switzerland (where they also mine their roads): they have steel columns on hydraulics that rise up about three feet above the road surface spaced a couple of feet apart, leaving six to ten feet underground of steel underground. Darned hard to get even a track driven tank past them.
Another idea I’ve toyed with is setting “tire biters” in my road in both directions under remote control. If I don’t want anyone leaving I raise the teeth in the outbound direction, if I don’t want anyone entering I raise the other. It’s cheap and the parts are easy to find.
None of those methods work unless you’ve got the right terrain though, luckily my road is cut into a shear wall on the uphill side and a shear cliff on the other. Unless the road’s open you have to walk. My house sits on a ridge top with 360 degree sight lines than run out at least 150 feet in all directions. My second floor deck has a concrete baluster style railing 3 feet high spaced six inches apart all around the house.
I like your idea for doors and the slippery stuff sounds good if you’re in a neighborhood or live in a mostly flat area.
should read “leaving six to ten feet of steel underground” Darned stutter’s coming back 🙂
I like both ideas…unfortunately we’re in a neighborhood. I doubt my neighbors–as friendly as they are–would approve of STD (Severe Tire Damage) or steel columns.
Copper pipes with nozzles to spray propane arranged around the front entrance? A take on the anti-car-jacking flamethrowers they use in South Africa.
Methyl, I can’t put my finger on why I think mining my road is ok but flame throwers would be outré…
What, is it the smell? Not quick enough? I admire the speed and effectiveness of the mines, granted.
Perhaps vats of boiling oil poured from the balcony, for that real old-school flair?
Oh okay.. Got it!
It is okay for the cops to knock at your door at 1:30, not identify themselves, and then shoot you.
That is fucking freedom right there!
Dom,
I am sure that if the resident shot the thug at the door (and lived) he would not have been charged with murder.
(As they say: don’t you believe it.)
Naw, I don’t believe it!
Shit like this makes me very happy about my cat’s ass surveillance system rigged to my home.
because you see Dom, it isn’t rational to have your gun with you when someone is pounding on your door at 1:30am. It’s the guy’s fault for having a gun. Officer safety. Gun in presence of the cops not held by a cop is grounds for summary execution. Now if you or I knock on someone’s door at 1:30am and the person inside answers with a gun in his hand and we shoot… well that’s different. That’s a crime. It’s just different when one of the parties is a cop.
(It was cops with their weapons drawn, we know it’s not just a polite knock. Even if it were, it’s still 1:30am)
Dear Dom,
That’s why it warms my heart whenever I read a news report about how “champions of democracy” are concerned about human rights abuses in China.
It’s so gratifying to know that liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans want the Chinese people to enjoy the same strict safeguards against human rights abuses that Americans enjoy in the US.
[For those new to this forum, yes I’m being ironic.]