Flawed Headline: “Lake County Deputies Kill Wrong Suspect”

This is an unfortunate set of circumstances.  Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a request for assistance from the Leesburg Police in locating an attempted murder suspect.  The suspect, Jonathan Brown, and his motorcycle were spotted in the Blueberry Hills apartment complex at around 0130 hrs. yesterday.

Not knowing where Brown was, deputies went to the apartment closest to the parked motorcycle.  They knocked on the door without announcing that they were the police.  Andrew Scott, the resident, opened the door and pointed a handgun at the deputies.  A deputy shot and killed Scott.  Brown was later found in an adjacent apartment in the same building.

Blame is already being assigned in both directions.  Of course the Media are questioning why the deputies would knock on the door early in the morning without saying they were law enforcement.  Tip #1:  When looking for a homicide suspect, discretion may be a tactical advantage that leads to an uneventful arrest.

As to knocking on the “wrong door,” LCSO was likely quietly canvassing the building in an effort to find Brown or witnesses as to where he went.  After all, we are expected to find the murder suspect and remove him from civilized society, if we have a good idea of where he is, which they did.  This is part of our duty to protect innocents.

Believe it or not, we knock on doors all the time in the middle of the night in response to complaints, to make all manner of assistance notifications to citizens, and to perform general investigative duties.  It is our job.

Lake County Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. John Herrell said, “The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police officer, you’re going to get shot.”  This would be Tip #2.  Even if it were not the police, is it prudent for a citizen to point the barrel of a gun at just anyone because they knock on your door in the wee hours?

Tip #3:  Threat identification is always key in an armed confrontation. The deputies definitely identified a threat in Scott pointing a gun at them.  Unfortunately for him, Scott had erroneously identified his threat.  Unless you factor in that Scott had drugs and paraphernalia in his apartment.  He may have seen the armed law enforcement officers as a danger to his continued freedom.  Or he may have just been negligent in targeting the cops.  Either way, his decision cost him his life.

This from local affiliate WESH:  “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.”  They actually know they shot the right man, since he was the one pointing a gun at the uniformed sheriff’s deputies.

I hate it when the Media twist the circumstances for sensationalism.

Randall

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49 Responses to Flawed Headline: “Lake County Deputies Kill Wrong Suspect”

  1. M@ says:

    Willful ignorance, has now replaced common sense for all MSM outlets.

    • Randall says:

      Common sense: a commodity rarely surrounded by gray matter.

      • M@ says:

        How true that is!

      • Tim says:

        Well the story sounds pretty straight to me but everyone seems to miss the point here. The problem I see is people siding with police about not identifiying themselves and knocking on his door. Heres the problem police don’t (knock) “like hello I’d like a cup of sugar” they pound to the point of just about knocking the door off it’s hinges so this guys asleep his apt starts shaking and somehow the cops( who had all the time in the world to plan it out) arent to blame? It’s very simple, action has reaction Who made the first action? you may not like it but bottom line is if they didn’t pound on his door legitimate or not the chain of events would have never happened I don’t care if the pointed his gun up the cops nose thats after THEY failed and started it in motion

  2. M@ says:

    Right apartment or wrong apartment, Scott still pointed a firearm at uniformed Deputies.

    What did he think was going to happen?

    I can’t wait for the, “He was a sweet boy who never did nobody no harm” crap to start rolling out.

    • Dillon Vierling says:

      “…Scott still pointed a firearm at uniformed Deputies.” – WHO DIDNT IDENTIFY THEMSELVES! What do you do when a complete stranger bangs on your door at 130 AM……..i personally grab my firearm until i know whats going on…..these dumb deputies failed to do something incredibly easy, and that lead to the loss of a life

      • Ted King says:

        Absolutely. The police should identify themselves, especially considering their obvious lack of reasoning ability in this situation. It is truly shameful these uniformed thugs hadn’t the common sense to realize the error of their ways and ended up taking an innocent life. And I am sure the cops failed to mention that the victim probably, almost certainly, asked “who is it?” to which the cops more than likely replied “…”. You boys in blue need to remember who you’re working for. I hope this guy feels terrible, he’s a murderer.

      • Bryce Howard says:

        I agree with grabbing a firearm until the situation is resolved but POINTING that firearm before you know whats going on is where this citizen made his mistake. The deputies handled this accordingly. Just a bad situation all around. I am wondering if the deputies even had time to identify themselves before the hand raised the firearm.

        • Randall says:

          Thanks, Bryce. I was losing faith.

          Randall

        • I agree, pointing a gun at cops is a bad idea. Who do you know that opens a door with a gun pointed out? Probably no one.

          Even criminals? I mean come on, just hide your gun behind the door when you open it. Or crack the door and not allow the gun to be visible. No one OPENS the door and points it at the person on the other side.

          I seriously doubt it happened that way. And if it did, the guy is a toolbox anyway.

          • Andrew says:

            Thanks for looking at in a rational, logical manner. Only a fool accepts a police statement as fact. Unfortunately, we will never hear the more accurate version that a gun was never pointed at the officers, they were high on adrenaline and had an itchy trigger finger. These goons should be directing traffic when lights go out and nothing else.

        • Jerry Black says:

          BS. when you do a search, banging on doors without notification the officers are supposed to be smart enough to realize how the situation they are causing can turn bad in an instant. whose to know that the dead guy may have been assaulted in the bast–come on cops use your head!

  3. Randall says:

    Some good commentary over here at When the Balloon Goes Up!

    http://www.balloongoesup.com/blog/2012/07/lethal-levels-of-fail/

    Randall

  4. I read the headline and expected a different article, I’m a little disappointed.

    The cops made mistakes and the victim made mistakes.

    Since every year people dress as cops for halloween, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility for people to dress like cops when committing a crime (St Valentine’s day massacre), especially when they don’t announce themselves.

    Second, he opened the door and was shot. If he had got a round off the lieutenant would have said shoot out or fire fight, not opened fire on him.

    Lastly, if you want to see the current us vs them relationship between LEO and non-LEO citizen, post more comments that show no accountability or remorse for knocking on a sleeping citizens door at 1:30am with no more evidence of wrong doing than where a vehicle is parked in a shared parking lot.

    If you want to flame me do it on my site here… http://www.balloongoesup.com/blog/2012/07/lethal-levels-of-fail/

    Randall, if you want me to direct my readers here for a debate let me know.

    • Randall says:

      Well, this could have been the Media headline: “Murderer Loose in Local Apartments After Deputies Just Drive Away!”

    • enrique sanders says:

      Well said. The cops think they can force themselves inside someone’s home simply because a suspect vehicle is parked nearby. That pisses me off and makes one more reason why I can’t stand cops. I am sure the cops are not telling the whole story. A police state is here and is quickly getting worse.

    • Jerry Black says:

      well said!

  5. Gary says:

    Whoa, you guys are fucking morons.

    This guy was absolutely right to arm himself before answering the unidentified goons banging on his door in the early morning hours. What kind of twisted world do you idiots live in where the cops don’t identify themselves, shoot the wrong guy, and then blame the dead person?

    Seriously, fuck you, you make all cops look like drooling troglodytes.

    • And now I feel like I was be polite… Gary, that’s not helping the us vs them idea either.

      • Randall says:

        Yeah, great stuff that. I feel like my point is being proven by the opposing camp. By the way, I support both the First and Second Amendments.

        Randall

      • Gary says:

        The “us vs. them mentality” wouldn’t exist if cops would remeber that their job is to “protect and to serve”, not shoot first and ask questions later.

        Yeah, the job is incredibly stressful and dangerous. But that’s what everyone signed up to do. It’s a ridiculous perversion to use the danger of the job as justification to reflect some of that danger back onto the civilians in the name of “making it safer dor cops to do their job.”

        The job is dangerous because you don’t treat civilians like enemy combatants in a war zone, and fuck cops who think this sort of swat-mentality is acceptable.

        • hacksoncode says:

          It’s not even that dangerous. The death rate for police officers is approximately the same as the death rate for anyone else that drives for a living (truck drivers, delivery people, taxi cab operators, etc.)

        • Jimbo says:

          I agree Gary. The police have an obligation to secure the safety of the community first and foremost. Catching the bad guy is good but they need to realize that people not involved in the situation are near by and that extreme care needs to be taken when firing a round in a residential neighborhood. It is a hard job but using a pipe, some stash and a scale isn’t a justification for taking the guy out. Why didn’t they check the “known” address first and have somebody monitor the apartment with the chopper in front of it. Like someone else said “a little remorse” on behalf of law enforcement would be better than trying to justify major poopage.

  6. TurkeyBurgers says:

    Do you know what the difference is between Justice and Punishment?

  7. Pamela Landy says:

    So the panties of the collective are in a wad because the police knocked on a door? It seems Mr. Scott had the right to look out of his front window, query “who is it”?, or not open the door at all. Instead his choice was to open the door and point a gun at law enforcement (who I guess by legal standards were ‘standing their ground’).

    Headline: Deputies shoot armed man & apprehend murder suspect.

    • Mukade Nasai says:

      He also could’ve left the country or never been born, that would’ve averted this situation. Love your suburban brainwashing, though. Too bad you don’t have any tact. A person is well within their rights to carry a gun to the door in case it’s needed, and the police did not identify themselves.

      And you know what? The last apartment I lived in didn’t have a front window.

    • Gary says:

      “Two men approached a building at an odd hour and banged on the door. A man opens the door with a gun, expecting that only someone up to no good would be banging on his door at that hour. The two interlopers see the gun, so they shoot the resident.”

      If those two bumblefucks weren’t cops, you’d be calling this a deadly home invasion, not a job well done.

  8. M@ says:

    Pamela brings up a good and simple point.

    Why didn’t he simply look out the window, through the peephole, or refuse to answer?

    Instead he opens the door pointing a firearm, and it’s the cops fault they defended themselves? How does that work?

    • What did they need to defend themselves from? Did he fire a shot? No, that was the Deputy.

      He opened the door and both parties encountered an armed person. The dead guy showed better trigger discipline.

      • Randall says:

        Actually, the deputy showed perfect trigger discipline. See a credible threat, depress trigger.

        Rwanda

        • andrew says:

          Only an ignorant fool trusts police statements. I used to think free speech was an incredible thing, then you come across people like Randall who don’t deserve to be heard.

    • Gary says:

      Who has a stronger right to defend themselves — the resident of the home, or the unknown men trespassing?

    • Jimbo says:

      What if they covered the alleged peep hole or there just wasn’t one? What if there was not a window? They screwed up and now they are covering. In the South lots of people approach their door this way especially when they are not expecting someone. Especially at 2 am. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

    • andrew says:

      I’ll spell it out and go slowly so you understand. COPS LIE. The story did not happen this way, they gave statements to protect themselves. Only a fool accepts a police statement as fact.

  9. Matt says:

    You are all very bad people for defending the individual that shot and killed an innocent man. I think poorly of all of you, and fear for law enforcement everywhere.

  10. Fucking Murderers says:

    This is straight up fucking murder. The trigger-happy cop should be charged homicide, nothing less. He took an innocent life. Hold him to the same standards you would hold a citizen to. Such a disgrace to good law enforcement officers as well. Bad cops. No excuses. He should rot in a jail cell.

    • Jimbo says:

      You have a good point. They seemed to capture the suspected murderer without incident but they killed a guy who was sleeping peacefully in his residence. “Unfortunate circumstances” are not an excuse. Cops have to account for every round they fire and are supposed to use more restraint than a non-LEO citizen. It’s 2012 and only skin heads are buying that he gets to die because he’s a small time user/dealer of weed.

      • Pamela Landy says:

        They didn’t shot someone tucked under their covers holding a teddy bear, they shot the guy pointing a gun at them.

  11. Chuck says:

    I live in an apartment and carry when I am home. That said, I would not have had my pistol visible in my hand when I opened the door. I would have had my hand on my pistol in its holster behind my back and my foot blocking the door as I opened it slightly to see who was there. When this doofus pointed his gun at the police, he was a threat to their life and they had to defend themselves. Even if the people at the door were civilians, he posed a threat to their life by pointing a gun at them. I am with the cops on this one, he made a fatal error.

  12. Steve Shaffer says:

    Let me think about this, if I’m a cop, I’m hunting for a murder suspect (that’s a person that allegedly has KILLED someone), I can’t just go away, there’s a bunch of doors, I DON’T KNOW which door he’s behind, I can’t ask Monty Hall ’cause it’s 01:30, so I’m going to approach EACH door like it will be answered by a hard of hearing, poor vision, can’t move fast octogenarian OR like ANY DOOR could be the one hiding a murder suspect? AND if I make enough noise at each door the murder suspect might hear and 1)get away to kill another day or 2) come out a different door and shoot me or 3)try a hostage situation to get away?

    I really don’t see where the police could have approached the door differently. Like my dad taught me about firearms (maybe it’s different now but….) 1)guns are always loaded 2)don’t point it at something you don’t want to shoot 3)shoot what you point it at.

    And the old “but for” rule. But for the fact that the guy opened the door (didn’t have to) and pointed a gun at someone (police as it turned out, could have been the murder suspect) and didn’t have to, he wouldn’t have got shot. I think I would have handled it differently.

    And now, if you want to have a bleeding heart for victims, how about the officer that has to live with the fact he HAD to shoot someone due to bad decisions (yeah, plural) on the part of the person opening the door. I really don’t think they enjoy that part of the job.

  13. Do you think the fact that a couple other deputies in the same county may receive accommodations after shooting a wanted killer earlier that week has anything to do with this?

    Also if the cops were standing to the left of the door they couldn’t be seen until the door opened. It would also give them the best look inside.

  14. Jason says:

    What I don’t get is, Police have many non-lethal solutions as options, and they can be deployed nearly as fast as a gun, obviously there was more than one officer.

    Were they determined to shoot and injure or kill the fleeing suspect they were searching for in the first place? Was that the plan?

  15. Pamela Landy says:

    So Jason you would suggest that police bring some bean bags rounds or a taser to a gunfight?

  16. Harry says:

    Coming from the field of criminal justice with nearly two decades of experience, I find the circumstances leading to Scott’s death to be the most shocking and the most provocative use of force displayed by a law enforcement agency. Clearly, this is not a textbook example of a “justified” use of force. Scott had a lawful right to protect himself, his girlfriend, and his home from an unwarranted invasion and, arguably, an unconstitutional infringement on his civil rights. Undoubtedly, Florida State investigators will side with these cowboy deputies. Florida’s governor should make the judicious decision and ask the Department of Justice to investigate whether one or more deputies under the “color of law” unconstitutionally infringed upon Scott’s civil rights by unlawfully killing him. There was certainly a homicide here. The coroner must also come to the same conclusion. Upon the coroner’s ruling that Scott died by way of homicide, the federal government should issue warrants for these cowboy deputies. What an oppressive, disgusting display of force by a governmental entity!

  17. Steve Shaffer says:

    Once more unto the breech.
    HEADLINE: Police officer killed victim of break-in

    http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/07/20/police-officer-killed-victim-of-far-east-side-break-in.html

  18. Richard says:

    If the resident thought there was need of a gun for his protection, why would he open the door? If he believed there were bad people outside waiting to do him harm, why would he not keep the door locked and call 911 for help?

    Only a fool opens his door at 1 am when he isn’t absolutely sure of the circumstances. Opening the door to a potential threat is monumentally stupid. So, given the information as reported, the resident was either a class A bonehead (a distinct possibility), or someone intent on doing the deputies harm.

    Of course, no one has addressed the possibility that the resident may have been a dirtbag with the full intent on shooting the cops. I guess that possibility is beyond the thinking of a few folks.

    There certainly seems to be a lot of “internet tough guys” posting comments from the safety of their keyboards.

    -Richard

  19. Ben says:

    This is simple. Point a gun at uniformed police officers- Get shot.

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