LIMA, OH: Police Shoot and Kill Woman, Maim 1-Year Old Child Permanently

[AngryJackal]

http://www.nbc24.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=81735

Lima police shoot woman and 1-year-old in drug raid

SWAT officer shot and killed a woman and injured her 1-year-old son during a drug raid



LIMA, OH (AP) -- Officers knew there might be youngsters inside a home where a SWAT officer shot and killed a woman and injured her 1-year-old son during a drug raid, Police Chief Greg Garlock said Saturday.

The raid was conducted Friday night to serve a high-risk search warrant that targeted a man charged with a drug crime who lived at the northwest Ohio home, police said. It concluded a long-term investigation into the sale of illegal drugs out of the home, the chief said.

"Because of the fact there were toys on the outside of the residence they were concerned about the fact there could be children inside and they were taking every precaution when they made entry," Garlock said.

"The decision made tried to take all precautions into account and I would have to say obviously our track record has been very consistent in terms of safety," he said.

Killed was Tarika Wilson, 26, of Lima. Family members identified her son as Sincere Wilson, according to The Lima News. He was flown to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, where he was in stable condition, police said.

Police arrested Wilson's boyfriend, Anthony Terry, 31, on a charge of suspicion of possession of crack cocaine, and crack and marijuana were found in the home, police said.

The hospital refused to release any information on the injured boy Saturday. His aunt, Tania Wilson, said he had surgery and had been he was shot in the shoulder and hand, with a bullet blowing off a finger.

Tania Wilson said she and her sister had planned to start a college course Monday to study business, and that Tarika Wilson hoped to make a better life for herself and her six children - ages 1 to 8 - who she said were all in the home during the raid.

She said Tarika Wilson was upstairs with her children helping them clean their bedrooms when the home was raided. She said a niece told her the mother was holding her son and fell over him when she was shot.

Tania Wilson questioned why police would enter a home where there might be children.

"I know my sister, and I know she wouldn't do nothing to jeopardize her life or her kids," she said.

Garlock said six children were in the home with two adults. He was unsure how many shots were fired.

Terry was being held in the Allen County jail Saturday and faces a Monday bond hearing.

Lt. Jim Baker said Terry had tried to use a weapon on an officer in the mid-1990s.

The chief declined to comment on whether anyone inside the home on Friday had a weapon or threatened an officer.

The rental home is owned by Lima 6th Ward Councilman Derry Glenn, who did not live there.

"This doesn't look good. It stinks to high heaven," he said. "I want to make sure the folks know this is going to be investigated thoroughly."

Police Maj. Kevin Martin said details about the shooting would not be released pending an investigation by Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, an agency under the Ohio attorney general. The police department turned over the investigation because it involves an officer, Martin said.

Garlock would not identify the officer, who has been placed on paid leave until the investigation is completed.

Two pit bulls were shot inside the home, and one died, Garlock said.

What's the price of a life of a mother and the well-being of her infant? Apparently a conviction on possessing crack and marijuana. Good job, Lima police. Good job. Stupid mother fuckers.

[Drav]

They shot their dogs too.

[Scarecrow411]

I was going to write a big seperate post, but justn't manage it. Why all the SWAT hate? You want Joe Traffic Ticket serving warrants on meth labs? You want Joe Traffic Ticket to put on his SWAT tag on twice a month a go handle a hostage situation?

Yeah, things don't always go as planned. Some times the teams might not be employed properly, but the blaming the teams themselves carries with it the same ignorance as blaming a gun. The fact that all these articles are "SWAT this" and "SWAT that" but never "Detectives this" or "Police Chief that" is just as bad as making every rifle a sniper rifle and every pistol an assault weapon.

[highmeh]

IWhy all the SWAT hate?

Big scary men with black boots and big scary looking rifl-oh, wait.....

[AngryJackal]

I was going to write a big seperate post, but justn't manage it. Why all the SWAT hate? You want Joe Traffic Ticket serving warrants on meth labs? You want Joe Traffic Ticket to put on his SWAT tag on twice a month a go handle a hostage situation?

Yeah, things don't always go as planned. Some times the teams might not be employed properly, but the blaming the teams themselves carries with it the same ignorance as blaming a gun. The fact that all these articles are "SWAT this" and "SWAT that" but never "Detectives this" or "Police Chief that" is just as bad as making every rifle a sniper rifle and every pistol an assault weapon.

There's a lot of people to blame for a bunch of different shit in this case, but the guy who pulled the trigger and killed an innocent woman and maimed her child for life is the most culpable and despicable of them.

[Scarecrow411]

There's a lot of people to blame for a bunch of different shit in this case, but the guy who pulled the trigger and killed an innocent woman and maimed her child for life is the most culpable and despicable of them.

Sorry, I wasn't there. How's the weather out there in Lima? Oh wait, your in Orlando. Hey, while it's Monday night and we're in our recliners what should've Roethlisberger done to beat the Jags?

[Clinotus]

I was going to write a big seperate post, but justn't manage it. Why all the SWAT hate? You want Joe Traffic Ticket serving warrants on meth labs? You want Joe Traffic Ticket to put on his SWAT tag on twice a month a go handle a hostage situation?


I don't think anyone disputes the need for SWAT units, they are needed, however the rise in SWAT units or rather departments who clamor for federal/state funding due to SWAT departments are an issue. We essentially have a highly armed group ravaging neighborhoods under dubious methods and with little actual results. Sometimes it seems the only real sense of limitation on their activities is same old general statement from the Chief that hes looking into it.

Are there some units out there that are professional, who do recon properly, who have the patience to catch the suspect in an area that is best suited for capture? Sure they are out there, but right now their brethren are doing the wrong thing for the wrong results and there are a fair amount of people either dying or having their homes destroyed as a result of the overstated and paramilitarization of police units.

So yeah, there is a fair amount of SWAT hate, but mainly for the inept and corrupt units out there because they deserve it and should have their funding cut. Hopefully before they kill another loved one.



Yeah, things don't always go as planned. Some times the teams might not be employed properly, but the blaming the teams themselves carries with it the same ignorance as blaming a gun. The fact that all these articles are "SWAT this" and "SWAT that" but never "Detectives this" or "Police Chief that" is just as bad as making every rifle a sniper rifle and every pistol an assault weapon.

Collateral damage is never acceptable.

There are simply just more 'Hey look at Swat' stories out right now.

[highmeh]

We essentially have a highly armed group ravaging neighborhoods under dubious methods and with little actual results.


Whoa now, tighten the tinfoil; We don't have the Gestapo machine gunning their way through Detroit as you're making it seem. Of course we're going to hear more about these stories than their successes...hell, the first thing you learn in Journalism 101 is "if it bleeds, it reads."

I think you're being a bit unfair. I'd like to see some evidence supporting your generic statements such as "dubious methods and with little actual results" or "some units out there" ... do you have statistics to back this up, or are you just a prime example of the media succeeding in turning the masses into thinking ground pounding SWAT teams are going to flashbang their children's cribs to look for meth?

$0.02

[Clinotus]

Whoa now, tighten the tinfoil; We don't have the Gestapo machine gunning their way through Detroit as you're making it seem. Of course we're going to hear more about these stories than their successes...hell, the first thing you learn in Journalism 101 is "if it bleeds, it reads."

I think you're being a bit unfair. I'd like to see some evidence supporting your generic statements such as "dubious methods and with little actual results" or "some units out there" ... do you have statistics to back this up, or are you just a prime example of the media succeeding in turning the masses into thinking ground pounding SWAT teams are going to flashbang their children's cribs to look for meth?

$0.02


You can troll better than that, I know you have a computer and can use the internet. To start you on your journey lets take two recent high profile cases:

Kathryn Johnston, who died in a hail of gun fire, "probable self defense" I would assume?
Salvatore Culosi, walked outside, warrant served for gambling.

Neither of the deceased posed high risk or threat to officers, yet both were killed. The former I belive allegedly had drugs planted on the scene to validate the raid.

You could even turn on the TV and watch those failures of Television shows like Dallas Swat where they tear gas homes with infants, get the wrong houses, never take shots (which is good), or generally look like clowns on TV.

[highmeh]

You can troll better than that, I know you have a computer and can use the internet. To start you on your journey lets take two recent high profile cases

#1, it wasn't a troll. It was an honest request for you to expand upon your accusations.

#2, you cited no statistics but rather a few cases that made the news recently. I'd still like to see numbers and fact.

[Clinotus]

#1, it wasn't a troll. It was an honest request for you to expand upon your accusations.

#2, you cited no statistics but rather a few cases that made the news recently. I'd still like to see numbers and fact.

As I stated earlier Collateral Damage by no means is acceptable which was the point on which I entered this discussion, so if you would, lets concentrate on the two cases that are on record that I provided you with though I suggested you do some additional research on your own. You dont have to wear a tin foil hat or be paranoid to witness (again)



Kathryn Johnston, who died in a hail of gun fire, "probable self defense" I would assume?
Salvatore Culosi, walked outside, warrant served for gambling.

Neither of the deceased posed high risk or threat to officers, yet both were killed. The former I belive allegedly had drugs planted on the scene to validate the raid.


So my assertion that the usage and equipping of some paramilitary police units have resulted in the deaths of persons in scenarios that they were not or are not needed remains. The Johnson case leans more towards Scarecrows assertion. :P

[Scarecrow411]

...To start you on your journey lets take two recent high profile cases...

It should be noted that these "recent" high profile cases happened in 2006.

In both cases it appears the police department employed SWAT improperly. Again, this isn't SWATs fault - it's a departmental issue.

[Clinotus]

It should be noted that these "recent" high profile cases happened in 2006.

In both cases it appears the police department employed SWAT improperly. Again, this isn't SWATs fault - it's a departmental issue.

The department did not knock down a door and the department isnt shooting people or animals in their homes. You cant remove responsiblity like that to place it where you may please. It reeks of the 'just following orders' mantra, which very seldom is upheld. But towards your point the blame should go all around, from the department to the swat team on the ground, to the judge that signs off on the order.

How it does work:

A SWAT team from the Milwaukee Police Department burst into Denise Berndsen's apartment and turned the place upside down looking for evidence of child porn. Oops. The man they were targeting had moved out five weeks earlier.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=689404


An Accokeek couple is demanding an apology after Prince George's County Sheriff's Deputies burst into their home and killed their dog - all because deputies went to the wrong address.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1107/474003.html


How it should work:

A special team of police officers who are supposed to target the more serious crimes and criminals in the city has been temporarily disbanded and an internal investigation into their actions is under way, Police Chief Jerry Williams confirmed Friday. While Williams said he could not discuss specifics, he did confirm that a raid conducted by the Street Enforcement Team last week ---- which ended up at the wrong Temecula house ---- is part of the administrative investigation.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1890342/posts

and finally the best effort out so far:

Two Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office narcotics agents burst into the wrong house during a raid in Galliano earlier this week and now face possible disciplinary action.
Sheriff Craig Webre classified the mistake as "very rare" and said the agents, Lt. Chet Caillouet and Deputy Robert Mason, likely used the wrong two-story house as a reference point.
Hundreds of search warrants are executed each year, Webre said. He said he recalled only two such mistakes in the past 15 years.
"If you're the person on the receiving end, one in 1,000 or one in 100,000 is too much," Webre said.
Mike Lefort said he was lying on his sofa when officers broke his screen door Monday night and announced, "Police! Police! Get down!"
"They were apologetic afterward," said Lefort, 61. "They realized they had made a mistake."
Lefort added his mother, Thelma Lefort, had a tough time overcoming the initial shock of the police entering her home. The 83-year-old's blood pressure rose, her son said.
The Sheriff's Office replaced the wooden screen door with a new one, said Lefort, who added that he is deciding whether to take legal action.
Webre said he plans to insert an extra layer of security to prevent similar mistakes: one person will prepare the warrant and a second person will verify it before it is executed.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6813344


^^Even the chief states that one mistake is too many.

Lets be honest, SWAT teams, and no-knock warrants are a needed tool sometimes in law enforcement, but many agencies receive the funding for the teams or process and have little training or officers in other areas of enforcement simply do not do their research. Its not disengenous for me to call examples like the two I originally posted inept, because it is outright ineptitude. Not checking your source, not checking the property, not doing surveillance, yet enacting the other tools of your trade to make an arrest? Thats shoody police work, and a lot of old school detectives chringe at the lack of procedure. But to blame the department and not the actual team who should have done thier legwork? Not fair to the department by any means.

[Cyrano 4747]

Does anyone have that map of all the botched SWAT raids and the like? I remember seeing it over in TFR a year or so back - basically it classified the instances in a couple of different categories (I'm having trouble remembering, but it was something like "death of civilian" "death of officer" and "property damage" or something like that) and put a dot on a map of the US for every instance since 1990 or something.

It's a pretty impressive map if anyone has a link to it.

Regardless, the simple fact is that SWAT teams ARE needed, but they're needed for busting up heavily guarded meth labs, taking down hostage takers, and engaging heavily armed wackos. The whole institution was basically established after the SLA shootout in LA in the 70s and that's the sort of confrontation they're needed for - actions against well armed and motivated opponents.

What they aren't needed for are serving random warrants that your average cop is fully capable of executing. We don't need them serving gambling warrants, or doing welfare checks on small children, or investigating small-scale drug operations.

AND they need to be trained. Notice that LAPD SWAT, NYPD SWAT, and the other large, well-funded, well-trained SWAT units that are in major metropolitan areas where they could conceivably have to respond to a major terrorist threat or some crazy hostage situation aren't doing this shit. It's the "SWAT" teams in the small cities and rural areas who got a bit of post-9/11 anti-terror funding, bought some black outfits and ARs, who train a few times a year, and who don't have any actual reason to be in existence. They get sent out on these bullshit "go serve this guy's gambling warrant" operations because their department needs to show that they're being used - and are thus needed - to keep the extra federal funding. It's the same bureaucratic nonsense that leads the Oregon Department of Transportation to rip up and repave random stretches of perfectly fine road right at the end of the fiscal year to show legislators that they used all their previous funding and need an increase in the next year, only in this case people die rather than showing up late for work.

[highmeh]

they're needed for busting up heavily guarded meth labs, taking down hostage takers, and engaging heavily armed wackos

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, how does the Police Department decide who is and who is not a heavily armed potential-whacko, and if so, what is a better way to handle it? I own 9 guns and have no less than 2,000 rounds of various ammunition in my home; should I be regarded as "heavily armed?"

[Drav]

Does anyone have that map of all the botched SWAT raids and the like? I remember seeing it over in TFR a year or so back - basically it classified the instances in a couple of different categories (I'm having trouble remembering, but it was something like "death of civilian" "death of officer" and "property damage" or something like that) and put a dot on a map of the US for every instance since 1990 or something.
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/

http://xs123.xs.to/xs123/08025/swat2168.jpg
http://xs123.xs.to/xs123/08025/swat3326.jpg
http://xs123.xs.to/xs123/08025/swat4816.jpg

[Cyrano 4747]

Just to play Devil's Advocate here, how does the Police Department decide who is and who is not a heavily armed potential-whacko, and if so, what is a better way to handle it? I own 9 guns and have no less than 2,000 rounds of various ammunition in my home; should I be regarded as "heavily armed?"

By that logic the police should ONLY engage in operations with full tactical gear. After all, that guy they're serving a warrant on for unpaid parking tickets might go off his rocker! Hell, traffic stops are a MAJOR source of police fatalities - if you're just going by the threat to the officers lives every traffic stop should be covered by a couple other officers armed with carbines.

The department should decide when and where to use units like SWAT and other paramilitary task forces using basic logic and some kind of rational assessment of how much force is needed. Serving a drug warrant on a gang member with a history of violence in a house known to have lots of drugs and weapons in it? Yeah, I can see the need for a bit more than two guys in blue and a pair of glocks. Investigating a doctor for writing unnecessary prescriptions for narcotics? No, we really don't need the full tactical entry here (this actually happened in Ohio - full tactical entry on a doctor's office during business hours with both the staff and patients held at gunpoint while they looked for information about him writing too many painkiller scripts).

But what if something that looks safe and normal turns into an utter cluster fuck? Well, that's why the SWAT teams are generally "on call" 24/7. Police work is, sadly, dangerous. If a patrol car ends up pinned down by heavy gunfire while trying to arrest some minor offender they need to call for backup and wait for the cavalry to arrive.

Maybe this would lead to a few extra dead cops each year (although I'm not convinced that it would - it seems more and more of these SWAT raids on random peoples' houses are being met by pissed off house owners with a 12 gauge, to the detriment of everyone involved), and that would be both tragic and sad. Unfortunately that is the nature of their job, and I for one am not willing to sacrifice the 4th Amendment and the safety of the general populace even if it saves one or two lives annually.

[bunnielab]

I really think that many of our nation's problems would go away if you could buy pot and blow at government supervised stores.

That or people stopped tolerating crack and meth dealer/manufactures in their communities.

It seems that most of these "SWAT gone wrong" incidents stem from the misguided war on drugs. I hope we get a fundy as president so I get to live through "The War on Blowjobs".

[Drav]

The Drug War: Bad for America and the Second Amendment

Many otherwise sensible Americans blindly favor the war against drugs. They have been brainwashed into this mindset, and that the drug war is providing crucial support to anti-gun fanatics.

The public's Pavlovian anti-drug response is precisely what urban elitists want. It dovetails perfectly with their larger aim -- a highly controlled society, the desire for which is generally camouflaged as altruism, public safety, and/or general welfare.

Police officials participate in the drug war because fighting it provides an ever-expanding budget, more manpower, more cars, more helicopters, more training, more legal power, more and better equipment, etc. This enlarges their personal fiefdoms and their sense of self-importance, the desire for which is a regrettably common human trait. Many police officials and officers are in fact convinced that the drug war is righteous. But none could honestly say that it will halt (or even significantly diminish) illegal drug sales or use.

The drug war will never be won because, firstly, drugs are incredibly easy to smuggle and use, and secondly, a large percentage of humans occasionally desire (for recreation, mental stimulation, metaphysical experimentation, religious ritual, or simple mental escape) an altered state of perception or consciousness. This has been true throughout history, and is still true today. Threats of arrest, torture, prison, bankruptcy -- none have ever, or will ever, stop human escapism or humans from using drugs.

When something in high demand is difficult to obtain, its value increases. Thus Prohibition made possible huge profits in ethyl alcohol (a consciousness-altering drug) and provided an unprecedented boost to organized crime in the twenties and thirties. The drug war is Prohibition squared, and the immense, immediate, tax-free profits made by supplying drugs has lured tens of thousands of young men and women into a life of crime.

Additionally, the drug war has put untold thousands of otherwise harmless citizens into jail or prison for drug use, thereby damaging or ruining their lives. It has pressured untold thousands of drug addicts, by making the price of a drug habit artificially high, into becoming thieves, robbers, embezzlers, burglars, and even murderers. The flood of drug money has corrupted cops, politicians, judges, and entire local, state, and national governments.

The drug war has made every citizen a suspect of the government, because drug users exist in every economic level and in every category of age, race, occupation, and religion. It has provided a pretext for governmental prying into our personal lives and finances. It has generated search warrants based on flimsy hearsay, or paid-for "information", and warrants extended to all things and places because drugs are easy to hide. These warrants have led to government home invasions in which innocent citizens are terrorized, humiliated, and sometimes shot. It has spawned terrifying forfeiture laws, in which property is seized and sold without due process, and, unbelievably, without the owner having committed any crime. It has led to police and enforcement agencies using military training, equipment, and tactics, which has caused these public employees to see their role as a military one -- what once was "serve and protect" is now "attack and destroy."

Finally, the drug war has wasted billions and billions of dollars that could have been spent in countless ways to make our country better, or not collected in the first place.

All of this has had two powerful negative effects on the rights enumerated in the Constitution, especially the right to keep and bear arms.

First, the drug war is a perfect vehicle for demonizing guns and gun owners. Drug smuggling and dealing occurs everywhere, all the time, and drug busts involve exciting action, large amounts of money, and severe consequences. These are ideal elements for a daily news spectacle depicting criminals who commonly use firearms to guard their product, profits, turf, and lives. Consequently, anti-gun fanatics are provided an excuse for more gun control, and the public eats it up.

The news media are major participants in this propagandizing. Drug bust stories usually include a report on what drugs and guns were seized. Always drugs and guns, drugs and guns, a mantra that has firmly implanted in the public mind a link between two completely different things: "evil" illegal drugs and useful legal guns. Of course most drug suspects also own cars, knives, rope, blunt instruments, tools, and other legal things used in committing crimes, but it's the guns you always hear about.

Control-obsessed public servants also participate in the propaganda. The idiotic phrase "getting guns and drugs off the street" is standard fare for politicians, law enforcement officials, and so-called community leaders. It reinforces the image of guns as tools of criminals, and by inference that all gun owners are criminals, not simply good citizens who wish to protect their lives, property, and freedom.

The transference and blurring of "drugs" and "drug dealers" into "guns" and "gun dealers" as public enemies is ongoing. Consider these real-life drug/gun counterparts: drug-free school zone/gun free school zone; zero tolerance for drugs/zero tolerance for guns; drug dealer crackdown/federal gun dealer crackdown; SWAT drug raids/SWAT gun raids; lawsuits against legal tobacco producers/lawsuits against legal gun manufacturers; media and government demonization of drugs rather than drug abusers/media and government demonization of guns rather than gun abusers.

The drug war's second negative effect is the severe erosion of our other personal rights. The invasive, oppressive laws and mechanisms created to fight this war have made parallel attacks on all rights infinitely easier to accomplish socially, politically, "legally", and physically. A society accustomed to roadblock searches, bogus warrants, home invasions by law enforcement, hired criminal snitches, pointless drug tests, property forfeiture, and random police surveillance by high-tech devices is a society primed for curtailment or abrogation of all its rights.

The drug war will never be won. It is impossible to physically interdict the drugs, and impossible to legislatively eradicate the desire for them. The harder the government cracks down on drugs, the higher drug profits soar, and the more drug dealers earn. Everyone knows this but will never admit it. Why should they?

The solution is to legalize all drugs for adults. This will make them cheap, instantly eliminating crimes associated with drug dealing and drug use, and the government's excuses for its tyrannical abuses. Re-classify drug addiction as a "disease" and deal with it on that level. If you consider drug legalization "immoral", then you must consider legal alcohol immoral as well, because alcohol is a drug whose legal use is far more inimical to society than all the rest combined.

If you don't like drugs, don't use them. If you don't like people who use drugs, don't associate with them. If you don't want your children to use drugs, teach them not to. If they ask why, warn them of the dangers.

The drug war must end. It is destroying America's social framework and our personal rights (especially the right to keep and bear arms) more quickly and surely than any realistic amount of drug use ever could. For myself, I prefer a free country in which a small percentage of people use drugs to the tyranny of a police state.

[This article originally appeared in the October 1999 issue of Handguns Magazine].

[B4Ctom1]

There's a lot of people to blame for a bunch of different shit in this case, but the guy who pulled the trigger and killed an innocent woman and maimed her child for life is the most culpable and despicable of them.

If I am doing something lawful and it results in the maiming or death of innocent persons, even if I am just doing my job, I have to face the civil/criminal charges. Why should a police officer's actions be any different?

[Scarecrow411]

If I am doing something lawful and it results in the maiming or death of innocent persons, even if I am just doing my job, I have to face the civil/criminal charges. Why should a police officer's actions be any different?

Rumor has it that the Lima PD SWAT team isn't even staffed by real people trying to do the best they can - but infact composed entirely of Killbots bent on the destruction of humanity.

[GSV Exit Strategy]

I thought that the Lima PD was just staffed with invincible, unknowable super-police who can do no wrong. Huh.