Another break in resulting in a shooting

[MA-Caver]

Rogue Minutemen leader held in fatal home invasion


SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Raul Flores thought federal agents had barged with guns drawn into his home in Arivaca, Arizona, in the middle of the night.

Shawna Forde, 41, denies involvement in the shooting deaths of an Arizona man and his daughter.

The woman and two men wore uniforms and identified themselves as U.S. Marshals. They claimed the house was surrounded. They said they were looking for an escaped prisoner, Flores' wife told a 911 dispatcher.
But there was no backup waiting outside, and no fugitive. The marshals were imposters.
They had targeted Flores because they suspected he was a drug trafficker and they wanted to rob and kill him, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
As the intruders searched his home, Flores asked one of the men why his handgun was taped. The man responded by shooting and killing Flores.
"Someone just came in and shot my daughter and husband," Flores' wife frantically told 911. She tells the police operator that she was shot and left for dead with her husband, Raul Flores, 29, and daughter Brisenia, 9, who were both shot in the head.
Story on link 1... link 2 is 911 call on tape.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/23/arizona.slaying.minutemen/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/23/arizona.slaying.minutemen/index.html?iref=allsearch#cnnSTCVideo

What is scary is that this could be ANY one of US...

 

[Sukerkin]

Oh my. Apart from the very real personal tragedies involved here, does this not speak of some fundamental fractures in the societal structure?

 

[Deaf Smith]

A lesson to learn is.... if you see some inconstancy in what the police wear, say, or carry, keep it to yourself and plan your attack/escape.

Don’t say, “hey, that’s not a police issue gun”, or “Say, your uniform misspells ‘SHERRIF’.”

Keep quite and get ready for war.

Deaf

 

[MA-Caver]

Yes that is a sticky... however one would imagine that badges would be flashed to a (possible) home-owner and such so that mistaken identities aren't occurring when first confronted. Officers would think are better trained than to just barge into a home with a suspect inside, particularly an armed suspect and a possible hostage situation which it becomes once the police are on the scene and the suspect is inside an occupied home.
Yet pointing a weapon at a legitimate LEO is going to get YOU shot... even if it IS in your own home.
Better to make positive identification first hand before going half-cocked.