I saw THIS on the news this morning and thought I'd pass it along. (Rather than make y'all click the link, it's small so I'll post the text) Now, understand, I think it's horrible what happened to the woman. On the otherhand, she shot three officers before they got her.
fast reflexes for an eldery woman... wonder if she sat in her rocking chair with a gun at all times..
Kinda reminds me of Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies...sitting on a rocker with a shotgun! What a mental picture....
A little more information http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061123/ap_on_re_us/elderly_shootout_33 I can't fault the officers, an unfortunate incident.
Its sad that some people have to live in those conditions - alone, scared, surrounded by drug dealers & criminals at the age of 92. One more thing I have to be thankful for on Thanksgiving day. It would be terrible to have to keep a gun nearby for fear your life could be taken at any moment - especially inside your own home. The officers involved were justified in what they did - and I hope they all recover quickly. It takes brave individuals to wander into a neighborhood described as one of the worst in Georgia. I'm sure without the presence of officers like those - the crime would be even worse. I'm thankful my family is safe, secure & healthy at home with me. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!
When the war on drugs means gunning down a 92 year old woman, it's time to re-evaluate your war tactics.
Did she not shoot first? 92 years old or 18 years old you shoot at an officer they have the right to shoot back.
Protection of ones home even aganist a Forceable entry by police. She is a hero in my book. God Bless her.
When the officers fired, it was not a war on drugs. It was a war on a person actively shooting at them. Being 92 years old doesn't excuse you from return fire from officers who have followed the letter of the law.
especially when there's drugs in the house and undercover agents have already made buys necessary to obtain warrants. on the other hand, you'd think they'd know there was a 92 year old woman in the house. if they knew enough about it to know to buy drugs there, you'd think they'd know who was living in there.....maybe not. then again, even if they did know a 92 year old woman was in the house, they wouldn't reasonably expect her to be the one shooting at them either. the article doesn't say if she sold them the drugs or if somebody else lived there with her, but i'd bet it wasn't her selling rocks. imho, there's enough on the side of the police to clear them. tragic incident....
Tragic indeed, for all concerned. Police say they bought drugs from a man in the house earlier in the day; family and neighbors say she lived alone. She had no children, but maybe a nephew/grand-nephew? Or maybe they had the wrong house, that has happened before. Maybe it was next door, or on the next block. We don't know for sure yet if they found drugs in the house -- the substance is being tested. CNN says there was a marked police car on the street and a uniformed officer in the yard; the officers who broke in were in plain clothes, but wearing vests that said "POLICE" on front and back. Apparently they announced themselves and immediately broke in. They had a "no-knock" warrant, which allows them to do that. But if she had no reason to expect a police raid, if she had her drapes drawn and didn't see outside, and everything happened so fast she didn't realize what was going on except that someone was breaking into her house, you can understand why she fired. Once fired upon, the police had no choice but to shoot back. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/23/atlanta.shooting/index.html As Melynda pointed out, it's sad to have to live like that, alone and scared, in a dangerous neighborhood. And the police who shot her must be going through a difficult psychological reaction; they're trained police officers, but they are also human. If some family member was selling drugs out of her house, I think responsibility for her death is directly on him. My thought and prayers are with her family, her neighbors, and everyone else who has to live like that.
"Police Officer: We Lied to Obtain Warrant "A narcotics team that shot and killed an elderly woman while raiding her home lied to obtain the search warrant, one team member has told federal investigators, according to news reports confirmed by a person familiar with the investigation who requested anonymity," The New York Times reports. "Spokesmen with the F.B.I.'s Atlanta office and the United States attorney here declined to comment. The shooting occurred on Nov. 21, after three members of the narcotics team arrested a suspected street marijuana dealer, Fabian Sheats, who said he could help the officers hook a bigger fish. Mr. Sheats pointed out Ms. Johnston's house on Neal Street, near a high-crime area, saying a dealer there had a kilogram of cocaine. The officers, according to the reports of Mr. Junnier's account, tried to get an informant to the house to make a drug buy. But when that effort hit a snag, a request for a search warrant was drawn up anyway.
