Mississippi police kill man serving warrant at wrong house

[HAB911]

Source: UPI

July 26 (UPI) -- Close to midnight on Sunday, Southaven, Miss., police arrived at the wrong house to serve an arrest warrant and shot a man dead in his own home, according to reports.

Ismael Lopez, 41, was shot dead late Sunday night after he checked to see who was at his front door. But the police were supposed to be across the street to serve an arrest warrant for Samuel Pearman, who was wanted on an assault charge, reported WREG.

"Someone didn't take the time to analyze the address," said Murray Wells, the attorney representing Lopez's family. "This is incredibly tragic and embarrassing to this police department that they can't read house numbers."

DeSoto County Prosecutor John Champion said it was "possible" that police went to the wrong house and confirmed that Lopez's name was not on the warrant.



Read more: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/07/26/Mississippi-cops-kill-man-when-they-go-to-wrong-address-on-arrest-warrant/2221501051117/?spt=su&or=btn_tw

[ret5hd]

1. YAY COPS!!! AGAIN!!!

[HAB911]

3. didn't take the time to analyze the address

aNaLyZe the address?

[ret5hd]

4. I'm sure our local apologist will...

be here soon to explain the intricacies and difficulties of address reading/navigation etc. How stress can make you forget to read the numbers on the curb and can also make you forget that even numbers are on one side of the street and odd numbers on the other.

[Hoyt]

9. LMAO.

[Old Vet]

27. You honestly think this was funny.........Fucking NOT

[Hoyt]

30. No Old Vet, I think DU "apologist" - who is an x-policeman who always supports them -- is "funny."

It would help if you read posts in context.

Christ.

[Old Vet]

44. Although the apologist certainly IMO is far from funny, I see what you meant now......

I stand to be corrected Hoyt.

[Hoyt]

46. We're cool. I agree "funny" ain't exactly apt in this case.

[demigoddess]

24. the cops showed up at my house once. They wanted a house in the next block!!

numbers must be real hard if you are a cop!

[csziggy]

31. I had a deputy claim that my address didn't exist

Problem is that while our house was being built we made sure the address was prominently displayed - a sign for the farm with the street number in four inch tall black numbers on a silver background on both sides, a white mail box with the street number in three inch tall reflective numbers on both sides. If they found those and turned up the driveway in between the sign and the mailbox, there are two additional signs pointing to the house, one at the top of the hill where you turn right towards the almost not visible house, another a couple of hundred yards south where you turn left to get to the house and where the two story house is fully visible.

The deputy apparently never made it to our driveway even after the dispatcher told him detailed directions from the main rural road to our driveway with distances and complete details on landmarks visible even at night.

I have given directions to semi-truck drivers, to people pulling horse trailers, to construction people, to service/maintenance people, and ladies who hardly ever leave the city limits, none of whom had no problem finding our farm and the house. But a deputy sheriff responding to an emergency call (shots fired, unknown direction) could not locate it in over an hour of trying to get him here. I think he turned down the wrong road and didn't want to admit it. The department ended up sending out a shift supervisor who had no trouble locating the farm and the house.

[Flaleftist]

40. Yes, it can be very confusing. Perhaps they should enlist pizza delivery drivers

to point out the right houses for them.

[CCExile]

7. Cops is human...

beans, not rokit serjuns!

[dixiegrrrrl]

37. It is spelled...."read"...n/t

[edhopper]

2. And the cops

will probably keep their jobs.

Where else can you cause the death of another and not at least get fired?

[Stryst]

23. First they'll get a paid vacation

Excuse me, I meant "administrative leave".

[safeinOhio]

25. and no donuts for a month.

[brush]

5. Tragic. We need to hire smarter cops.

Oh, the headline of the OP could stand a little editing.

It reads like the cops killed a man serving a warrant.

[HAB911]

6. I agree

but rules are rules........

[George II]

10. Headline writers these days are very sloppy, I read it the way you did.

[marybourg]

43. And me. I guess inserting the work "while"

in the appropriate place is not streamlined enough for the modern news media.

[brush]

47. Yep, that's all it would've taken.

[Bengus81]

35. That's what I thought,why is a process server out at midnight doing this...

That headline is really misleading..........

[Egnever]

52. Who with any brains at all would take that job for what they pay?

Much like our issue with our schools we are not willing to pay for competency.

[brush]

57. Of course. Raise the education requirements and pay for cops, and pay for teachers.

[left-of-center2012]

8. "Heroes" who (again) 'feared for their lives' (sarcasm alert)

"... police began firing through a closed door and that Lopez never picked up his firearm, which she said was found by police in the usual spot he always keeps it in the living room."

[MineralMan]

11. I had the cops come to my door once to serve

an arrest warrant on someone I had never heard of. They didn't like my telling them that nobody by that name lived there. So, I asked them what address was on the warrant. They told me. One of the numbers in the address was a 9, while my address has a 6 in that position. I pointed that out to them, but they still wanted to argue.

Finally, I said, "Did you even bother to compare the address on your warrant with the very large address numbers just to the right of where you're standing?" Doh! The house they were supposed to go to is several doors up the block from mine.

They just looked annoyed and left. No apology. No nothing.

But, here's the thing: If I hadn't been an older white guy, or if my name had been from some other culture, I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to go through all that with them. That kind of mistake has killed many people, sadly.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Very Similar Experience

Had county and city cops show up to arrest some guy for failing to pay child support. Happened 8 or 10 years ago.

These idiots didn't even have the side of the river.

As example (not using my actual address), the were looking for 404 North and i live at 440 south!


Out of 3 cops nobody noticed either that the number was different they were looking for something north of the river. And, that adress is more than 8 blocks to the north. And one of these cops is local so he would know that the north and south divider street is the main east west street in town.

I never heard of this guy, and later i find that the guy is 30 years old, and blond. These guys ASKED ME if i was this guy. I'm early 50's, dark hair, brown eyes. Then they ask me where he is. "Um, i've never heard of this guy. You sure you got the right address?" Answer: "This is 404 XYZ street, right?" Me: "Which direction, because there is no 404 south address, because this block has 5 houses numbered by 10's." Local cop, "oh this says, North XYZ!"

They turn around. No apology for wasting my time, nothing.

Buffoonery.

[MineralMan]

13. The problem is inattention, to an extent, but the real problem

is that they often won't take the time to even listen to the explanation that they were at the wrong address. If you were a person of color or spoke English as a second language, they'd just cuff you and not listen to anything you said.

Our white male privilege gives us the opportunity to catch their error and point it out to them. Not everyone gets a chance to do that. In some cases, it leads to violence or even homicide.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Yeah, At Least I Wasn't Worried About Getting Shot

When i my "crime" was being correct.

[brush]

48. Thanks for sharing, especially your last graph.

You're one of the "woke" ones.

[MineralMan]

49. I try hard to keep my eyes wide open.

[MosheFeingold]

14. The Grateful Dead

Taught us how to respond to this.

Don't answer your door. Don't talk through the door. Don't acknowledge. Nothing. Unless it's the Pizza man and you just ordered a Pizza, don't go to your door when the doorbell rings. Sure as hell don't go if someone is pounding on your door.

If they have a warrant, then I guess they are gonna come in.

Most of the time, even with a warrant, they leave.

[HAB911]

15. Exactly

People think a knock on the door has some meaning, duh.

I have cameras and never open the door without checking first. I don't even answer the phone for unknown numbers, lol.

[obamanut2012]

19. I never answer the door unless I'm expecting someone -- ever

And never answer my phone unless a name pops up as a contact, or it's a call I'm expecting. Ever.

My parents and some friends are surprised by this, and are like, but someone is knocking/calling. I say, I have no obligation to answer the door for anyone, even a cop. Especially a cop.

I don't get why people think they are obligated to give attention to someone or something they didn't request.

[sprinkleeninow]

32. You a kindred spirit! I always have a 'peephole' installed in our door(s)

wherever we are residing. I don't open door unless I recognize and/or expecting them.
If they persist, the convincer will change their mind.
I hit ignore on any phone nos. I don't recognize. If they want me badly enuff, they'll leave a msg.
Today is a very different environment.

[MosheFeingold]

34. My grandson is a techie

He has several cameras, hooked to an old iPad we keep in the den.

I just pick it up and look to see who is there. He has a 100+ year old Spanish-style house with thick stone walls, giant metal doors, and even wrought iron on the windows. (Think "The Alamo" -- we live in New Mexico now.)

There's no way to tell if we are home or not. And I doubt anything short of a SWAT team with a battering ram could come in without him voluntarily opening the door.

Even the locks are Assoy Alboy -- the same ones we had in Congress in secured areas. They can't be bumped or picked. (He's a doctor and someone tried to rob him to get drugs once. Left an impression regarding home security.)

[sprinkleeninow]

39. We bought a camera to watch deer in our back area, but now have it in the front.

My other half forgot to lock my car after running it in cold weather this past winter. Some juvenile delinquents roaming our 'hood lifted a digital tire gauge in a nice case from my glove compartment one nite. Cops came out, filed report, dusted for prints. Glove compartment rifled thru. I keep NOTHING of value in my vehicle. But I felt creeped out for days just knowing somebody uninvited entered my space. (P.S. They got collared several weeks after. Fifteen year olds from two towns over.)
What I 'really' want to say is: that is such a smart idea, using an old IPad to monitor in real time what movement the camera detects!
We could prolly rig something up like that. We're trying to cut costs where we can. We didn't go w/ a mainstream security co. and bells and whistles of their cameras, etc.
Thanx for the 'household hint'! 🤗
-sprink

[politicat]

58. Notes taken. Thanks.

I'm already at the "don't answer, don't acknowledge" stage, but I've been planning to replace our front door and install a storm door. (Cameras are already in place; I have stalkers in the family.) We already have a rather zombie proof house, thanks to the design, but I like war doors and good locks.

[MosheFeingold]

59. Talked with my grandson a bit

The name of the locks are "Assa Alboy." The key is a funky looking deal with tight control -- it can't be copied, so you order a bunch. It is impossible to pick. It's what I saw when working in secured areas in DC. (They also use another brand "Medeco" which is a close second.)

On his non-metal doors, he installed "Door Armor." It's basically metal reinforcement of the door jam (it's about 4 feet long) with eight or so 4 inch long screws that go through the door frame all the way into the stud. It also reinforces the locks and there are plates that go over the hinges. Cheap and available on Amazon.

He has storm doors, but they have bars and open out. This is mainly to keep bears from walking into the house because we would leave the door open, but obviously stops people. (When I said "rural," I meant "rural." The backyard is the Lincoln National Forest.)

Finally, he installed a really cool product over all the glass windows -- it's a 3M security widow film that goes on like window tint and then is siliconed onto the window frame. I didn't even know it was there. It will really slow down someone trying to smash through a window. I looked up videos of it on youtube:

[obamanut2012]

42. I'll use the peephole, and then not open!

[Paladin]

16. Those cops are thankful the victim wasn't an attractive white woman.

Talk about dodging a bullet......

[IronLionZion]

20. Like Justine Damond?

Attractive white women and old white grandfathers and disabled people in wheelchairs have been shot and killed by police before too. People never expect it will happen to them.

[trc]

51. But she slapped their car...

A capital offense with summary judgment apparently. I am not making light of this woman's death, I am afraid of how easy it was for authority to kill her and all other shot and killed for fill-in-the-blank.

[CanonRay]

17. At least one of those officers was responsible for leading that raid and determining the correct

location. He/She should no longer be a police officer, at a minimum.

[geek tragedy]

18. trigger-happy, racist, dumb-fuck cops in Mississippi? Surely not! nt

[0rganism]

22. "analyze the address"?

i wonder which special skills and resources such a task requires...

[hatrack]

33. "Dayum!!! This has got numberz AND werdzz!!"

[marybourg]

26. But why did they kill him?

Is "serving a warrant" a new code word for going to a house at midnight (even the correct house) and killing the occupant?

[Kaleva]

36. Guy opens the door and police just shoot him dead?

I suspect homeowner had a gun with him and shit went south fast.

[tblue37]

50. The articles I have read say that he didn't even open the door before the cops shot him

THROUGH the closed door.

For example:

snip

Attorney Murray Wells, who is representing Lopez’s family, says that “bullet holes suggest [police] shot through the door” of Lopez’s house.

Police claim that Lopez opened the door and pointed a gun at them, and that they only shot him after repeatedly asking him to drop his weapon. However, some neighbors are disputing the officers’ account.

snip

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/07/cops-kill-innocent-man-by-shooting-him-through-a-closed-door-at-the-wrong-house/

[hibbing]

53. Wtf?

[Kaleva]

54. But there is no dispute that he had a gun?

There's a serious lack of training for those who have a gun for self protection. One does not go and investigate even if armed with a gun. One hunkers down in a designated safe room and call 911.

[Flaleftist]

41. Trigger happy and poorly trained.

Last edited Thu Jul 27, 2017, 10:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Another question is why are they using swat team tactics to exercise arrest warrants for low-level offenders in the middle of the night?

[MosheFeingold]

45. Apparently there was no dog to shoot n/t

[rock]

28. "... embarrassing to this police department ..."

I'll tell you what's embarrassing to this police department - this police department!

[Aristus]

29. I have to wonder...

If the homeowner's name had been Irving Lawrence if the cops would have been quite so quick on the draw...

[DFW]

55. Charge the lot of them with murder 2

I'm sure more than one of them will spill the truth rather than do 10 to 25 in a Mississippi prison.

[Judi Lynn]

56. These accidental victims are irreplaceable to their loved ones.

No one will remember him in a couple of days at the police department, but those who knew him will miss him the rest of their lives, and mourn his stupid murder at the hands of swaggering, soulless idiots.



Rest in peace, Ismael Lopez.


(They "shot the wrong man?" Since when were they supposed to go shoot any man, at all?)