Homeowner Shot After Georgia Police Went to Wrong Home Dies

A Georgia homeowner shot in the neck after police went to the wrong house has died, a lawyer for the family said Friday.

William Powell, 63, died Thursday afternoon at Atlanta Medical Center, attorney Keith Martin said.

A preliminary review of the 911 call indicates the three officers who responded had gone to the wrong home and showed up at Powell's house, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Homeowner Shot After Georgia Police Went to Wrong Home Dies

I would post this in the Posse Comitatus forum but I do not have 500 posts yet so here it is.

Police in Georgia were responding to a 911 call that reported shots fired over a domestic dispute. Problem is, when they arrived they showed up at the wrong house. It gets worse.

Powell had grabbed the gun for protection, not knowing who might be outside in the dark of night, Martin said. A nearby home had been burglarized just two weeks before the shooting, he added.

The GBI is investigating the actions of Henry County police in the shooting early Wednesday morning in Stockbridge, about 20 miles south of Atlanta.

Someone had called 911 a little before midnight Tuesday to report hearing a woman yelling for help and gunshots, prompting the police response, the GBI has said. Authorities have not released the 911 call.

The officers "gave verbal commands for Powell to drop his handgun which he did not comply with," GBI agent Scott Dutton said in a statement.

They police say that Powell was ordered to drop his weapon but his wife says she heard no such commands. Just two shots and her husband was down.

But his wife, who was standing outside in the garage area, near her husband, never heard the officers say a word, Martin said.

"First thing she heard was two shots, her husband fell, she ran back into the house, locked the door and called 911," he said. "She saw her husband fall, and was terrified."

Powell had just left the house, opened the garage door and walked just outside the garage when he was shot, Martin said.

So now it's her word against the officers involved. What I want to know is who is responsible for the incorrect address? The 911 caller? The 911 dispatcher? The police?

After Powell was shot, some Henry County police officers continued to try to find the home where the 911 caller said screams and gunshots were heard, Dutton said in an interview Friday. They canvassed the neighborhood and believe they found the home the caller was talking about, Dutton said. A person at that home said there had been an argument, but that no one screamed for help and no gunshots were fired, he said.

They believed they had found the right home? I hope that was just the reporters words and not an official statement from the local PD.

My goodness, this is an epic fail every way you look at it. And what a tragic outcome.

What is to blame for this gross incompetence? Some would say that due to the negative press the police have received in recent years (BLM, MoveOn) their hiring pace has slowed down, when the demand for police officers is rising. So what do you do when you have a legitimate need for law enforcement professionals, but no one wants to sign up for fear of being discriminated against, ridiculed, sued, charged, convicted, or even worse killed for doing their jobs?

You hire anyone that applies, whether they meet the minimum standards or not.

I am sympathetic to the real & true law enforcement officers who have to suffer because of the small minority of corrupt cops. And they corrupt ones? They're out there! Don't get me wrong, because there is corruption in every aspect of society and if you think that isn't true you are being naive.

But something needs to be done. Every week I am reading stories about young trigger happy cops in the US that make fatal mistakes that cost the lives of innocent citizens. On the one hand it's hard to criticize most of them for putting their lives on the line to protect people like you and me. I mean I certainly wouldn't sign up for that job.

On the other hand, the level of gross incompetence, negligence, and down right unprofessionalism coming out of of law enforcement is disturbing at the very least.

The investigators looking into the shooting will be looking into the circumstances surrounding the 911 call as well, Dutton said.

It wasn't known Friday whether the officers were wearing body cameras or whether any other video captured part of what transpired. Smith referred questions about the case to the GBI.

Powell was an Air Force veteran and has three grown children, according to his mother-in-law, Geraldine Huey, 85, who lives next door.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

Police word against a citizen? LOL, I have personally been in court when it went to the citizens and I will briefly tell you about it below because it is ridiculous, but noone was charged, just dropped. The police will say that there was an inhuman error in the gps or something, or state that the man was innocent so shouldn't have a gun and they will get away with it in as blunt non legalise terms as possible.

Anyways, my experience with police that made the police look like idiots in court. I'll be brief. I was staying at a friends house. We had a mini keg. We were all 21 or above. We were on his porch when a skateboarder going down the sidewalk was rampaged by a guy in a black pickup. the guy in the pickup was undercover cop (which we didn't know) but he got out of the truck and tackled the kid and started punching him in the face and body. We started cursing at the guy and called him a pussy and whatnot. He called for backup and police arrived at the scene. We never left the porch at one time and yet police forced their entry into his home and saw a keg in his living room and a few people on the couch. He was written up for disorderly conduct and procurring to minors although everyone he asked for ID was of age. We showed up to court and we requested that the officers be questioned seperatley and the judge obliged. It was dismissed before we were even questioned becuase their story was BS. Yet I was pissed for not getting restitution for having to go to court and miss work for some BS reason. That is all.

a reply to: Sometimes

That is an interesting story, and I can totally believe it. Thank you for sharing!

Let me guess... suicide by cop? Honest mistake? Victim was a thug (if black)?he didnt comply! Victim had priors, was on meth and had super human strength (somehow... mongs on ATS believes this...meth gives powers against bullets/tazers.) Umm.. what else, cops are humans too....
Etc

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The above is what cop sympathizers would come up with if video evidence hadnt shed a light on a massive problem in this c untry (pun intended)

I wonder if his statement will match up with video evidence, hopefully they had body cams. History taught us there is 99.99% chance THE BOYS IN BLUE lie under oath more than criminals, sometimes while still in uniform.

I want to see how this unfolds.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
Let me guess... suicide by cop? Honest mistake? Victim was a thug (if black)?he didnt comply! Victim had priors, was on meth and had super human strength (somehow... mongs on ATS believes this...meth gives powers against bullets/tazers.) Umm.. what else, cops are humans too....
Etc

----------

The above is what cop sympathizers would come up with if video evidence hadnt shed a light on a massive problem in this c untry (pun intended)

I wonder if his statement will match up with video evidence, hopefully they had body cams. History taught us there is 99.99% chance THE BOYS IN BLUE lie under oath more than criminals, sometimes while still in uniform.

I want to see how this unfolds.

Meth doesn't give you superhuman strength, just the ability to stay up for days and start tasks and not complete them as a sober person would.

There will be video evidence, but what will that mean? A police officer kicks your door in and you grab a gun to defend yourself. You have done nothing wrong yet intruders are pointing a gun at you. The intuders think you are a criminal and yet you think you are protecting your home. you get shot for being a criminal for pointing a gun at police. Case closed. Wrong house, oops, shouldn't point a gun at police. That is always what the judge says.

a reply to: Sometimes

Somehow I think this will all boil down to who was responsible for the wrong address.

Obviously the wife is going to get a settlement.

This is the result of prohibition. How many millions will it inflict damage on before we end this oppressive insanity?

a reply to: pirhanna

Prohibition of what?

a reply to: ColdWisdom

Three Henry County police officers got a call reporting gunshots and a woman screaming in a neighborhood near Stockbridge about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, a local CBS News affiliate reported.

“Based on the directions given to the police officers there, they wound up at the residence of Mr. Powell,” said Scott Dutton, spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting.

www.washingtontimes.com...

Now again we have the question of was it the 911 dispatcher that gave the police the wrong address? Or was it the person who made the 911 call?

I wonder if the 911 tape will be released. You can bet the widow's attorney will advise her as such.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

They'd better have cams, if they expect to be believed! With his wife stating she heard nothing, seems likely that they got the report, showed up, saw a gun, and just fired. What is a citizen supposed to do?

The business of them not being able to determine whether or not shots were fired before is weird, too. We ought to know if the address was from the 911 caller, and how they made a determination. As it stands, there is an unverified report, and a man is dead because the cops decided a citizen defending himself was a danger to them.

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: Sometimes

Somehow I think this will all boil down to who was responsible for the wrong address.

Obviously the wife is going to get a settlement.

If it was a landline then the police are responsible for the mistake because a landline is tied to an address. If it was a cellphone, then I don't rally know what would happen, I mean if the operator misheard the address before they hung up, whose fault is that? Officers are very rarely held accountable for their actions, that is basically common knowledge, so any excuse will allow the officer to get off from any charge.

a reply to: Sometimes

Even if they determine that the botched address came from the 911 caller (most likely a cell phone) or from the dispatcher reading it/repeating it wrong it won't have any affect on the disciplinary actions of the officer involved in the shooting.

What will have an affect, is if the widow can prove that the police never once ordered her husband to drop his weapon and then they lied about it.

That can send an officer to jail. And if they find that the other officers that were with him changed their stories to cover their friend, then rest assured you will see conspiracy charges on them, too.

originally posted by: Sometimes
Officers are very rarely held accountable for their actions

Unless they tazer another cop's teenage son to death and then slam him on the pavement.

Anyone else.....you are totally correct.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

Good luck trying to prove it as I'm sure any and all video has been either "lost" or tampered with.

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: Sometimes

Even if they determine that the botched address came from the 911 caller (most likely a cell phone) or from the dispatcher reading it/repeating it wrong it won't have any affect on the disciplinary actions of the officer involved in the shooting.

What will have an affect, is if the widow can prove that the police never once ordered her husband to drop his weapon and then they lied about it.

That can send an officer to jail. And if they find that the other officers that were with him changed their stories to cover their friend, then rest assured you will see conspiracy charges on them, too.

i understand where you are coming from and it makes a lot of sense, but it won't happen, it really really won't happen. I will follow this case to let you know in a few months and prove the point. At most the shooter will get fired, that is all.

I remember about 10 years ago a guy was driving home with his daughter in the front seat and the citizen didn't pull over for over 5 minutes when the cop followed him, after he pulled over the cop approached his car with a gun drawn and shot the guy point blank in front of his daughter and he wasn't even armed. The cop is still on the force and was put on paid suspension until the case was closed. This was in a small town with street lights only downtown mind you. So there is really only one side to justice: You wear a badge you are granted certain rights. Doesn;t make sense, but it is true.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

Even body cams can be turned off or "malfunction" unfortunately.

I do think if body cameras are going to ever work...they NEED to be serviced by a THIRD PARTY and have their data stored OFF SITE by another agency or company.

originally posted by: FaunaOrFlora
a reply to: ColdWisdom

Good luck trying to prove it as I'm sure any and all video has been either "lost" or tampered with.

have you ever seen the video of police entering a medical marijuana facility and arresting people and then using marijuana while on the job? They also broke all the security cameras that they could see and destroyed the evidence, but there were backup security cameras filming it all that they didn't get rid of. When it went to court the police tried to say that they were illegally filmed and...Well I need to find out what happened. It's hard to keep track of all this crap.
Comentary on it, I couldn't find the whole video, which is more awesome.

a reply to: Sometimes

Bunch of hero's..lol, I think they abused a disabled woman to boot.

a reply to: Sometimes

Good find! And see if you can find the full length copy.

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
a reply to: Sometimes

Good find! And see if you can find the full length copy.

Here you go, the best I could find