Police Shoot Golf Club-Wielding Man Dead During a Raid on His Home. Footage Released.
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I found this somewhat interesting:
Tip: Just read the bolded parts for a summary.
Video details deadly raid by Ogden police
By Erin Alberty
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Dec 24, 2010 06:54AM
Updated 1 hour ago
Shouts break the evening silence.
“Police! Search warrant!”
Officers burst through the door. A man appears across the room. Metal glints from his clasped hands. Shots echo from a police-issue Glock 22. Todd Blair slumps to the floor.
“Five seconds,” said Blair’s mother, Arlean. “In five seconds, he was dead.”
Officers entered Blair’s home Sept. 16 during a drug raid when he stepped into the hall, wielding a golf club, police video shows. Ogden police Sgt. Troy Burnett shot Blair, 45, in the head and chest.
The shooting was deemed legally justified.
“They could have handled it a lot better,” Arlean Blair countered. “They could have tasered him. They could have done a lot of things other than shoot him.”
Investigation reports obtained by The Tribune depict an operation that took some unexpected turns away from protocol before that one explosive moment.
Grounds for search » Whether Todd Blair was a ? dealer or just a well-connected addict is a matter of dispute. Investigators from Weber and Morgan counties began watching Blair in 2009 after hearing that he was letting drug dealers live at his home in exchange for their products, according to the search warrant request. There were previous reports of ? traffic to and from the home, near 5900 South and 2600 West in Roy. Investigators gathered evidence that it was Blair’s roommate, Melanie Chournos, buying and selling ? — a factor in the no-knock search that would precede Blair’s death.
Detectives later saw Blair leaving for short, nighttime trips, which suggested drug trades, they wrote. Two tipsters claimed that they had seen Blair — not just Chournos — handing drugs to customers.
Investigators, however, didn’t report seeing Blair make a transaction.
“He was not a dealer,” Arlean Blair insists. “I know that he used ... but he was not a drug dealer. A drug dealer has lots of money and nice things. If you looked in his house, he had nothing. He gave everything away to people who were having trouble.”
Two of Blair’s friends claimed they never saw him even use drugs, but others told police he had caved in to his ? addiction.
“He was paranoid,” said Candice Coburn, who added she was Blair’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. “His brain was fried. He would punch and yell at invisible people and me.”
On Sept. 16, the day of Blair’s death, Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force investigator Shane Keyes received word that Blair had 2 ounces of heroin and would be getting more that night. Keyes asked 2nd District Judge Scott M. Hadley for a no-knock, nighttime search warrant because house “lookouts” were known to give warning when police were nearby. ? dissolves quickly, Keyes added, and “if given the opportunity, Chournos will destroy the evidence.”
However, the warrant doesn’t mention that Chournos had already moved out of Blair’s home — a development officers noted in interviews after his death.
“I had been told that there was some ... domestic violence,” said Weber County sheriff’s Sgt. Nate Hutchinson, who was involved with the raid.
Blair was living alone. Because of the reports of violence, officers decided to wait until he left, pull him over in his Pontiac Grand Am and then search the empty house.
“Dynamic entry” » That night, officers saw people come and go from the home. Finally, a man matching Blair’s description got into the car with a woman and drove away.
Officers pulled them over, but instead found it was Blair’s friend, who had been staying with him. Police released the couple and returned their attention to Blair’s home.
The SWAT team prepared for a “dynamic entry” — breaking through the door and subduing anyone inside.
Normally, that involves extensive planning, officers said in investigation interviews.
“A PowerPoint presentation is typically put together (and) a briefing of everybody sitting around the round table in our office ... and all the details are laid out as far as the suspect, the location, the route in, the ... evacuation points and ... where the closest medical [facility] is,” officer Brandon Beck said in a transcribed interview with county investigators.
Instead, the team gathered at a nearby retirement home to go over the plan.
To do a dynamic entry without the in-office briefing is “absolutely not our standard,” said Burnett, the officer who shot Blair, during an interview with investigators.
On the video, minutes before the raid begins, an officer can be heard asking the group, “Did somebody grab a copy of the warrant off my desk?”
“Oh, don’t tell me that,” Burnett replies. He then tells the other officers, “He doesn’t have a copy of the warrant.”
Because the warrant was for a no-knock search, the copy wasn’t necessary to enter the house, Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said.
“Someone could have easily hurried and brought it back [from the office],” he said.
There is no time limit for when a warrant should be presented to a subject, agreed Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner — “it depends on the situation” — but generally when a warrant is served, “It’s in [officers’] possession at the time.”
As the raid played out, Blair wouldn’t ask for the warrant anyway.
Officers rush in » Burnett was assigned to lead the team in. It wouldn’t be his first use of deadly force — in 2006, he shot and killed white supremacist William Glen Maw after Maw fled from a traffic stop and then turned and pointed a gun at Burnett. Then-Weber County District Attorney Mark De Caria commended him for his bravery.
Outside Blair’s house, Burnett held his .40-caliber Glock 22 “at the low ready,” with a round in the chamber. Six other officers were behind him. It was about 9:30 p.m. when they began to yell, “Police! Search warrant!”
After three strikes on the door, it burst open.
Accounts of what happened next vary by a second here and a foot there.
Those minutiae matter, Smith said.
“We actually broke [the video] down frame by frame,” he said.
The second man in, Ogden officer Jared Francom, said Burnett had gotten “about one foot in the door” when gunfire erupted.
Burnett recalled:
“The door flew open. I was first in the door. I went to the right to ... a living-room area. ... I moved to the right to dig my corners.
“[The number of] feet from the front door to where I first saw him, I don’t know ... eight feet from inside the front door, but I had went ... to the right. I don’t know how far.”
Blair appeared in the door frame holding a MacGregor Lite golf club in the stance of a right-handed batter.
“He had some silver thing. ... I thought it was a sword or something,” Burnett said. “It was silverish and thin.
“I didn’t think about saying words. I just thought about not getting hit, or slashed or whatever.”
URL="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50932722-76/blair-officer-force-deadly.html.csp?page=4"]Story continued here[/URL
Since I'm sure most will disagree with the shooting, the question is:How should this raid have been handled and how should similar raids be handled?
INB4: "? the police", "tl;dr", etc.
Tip: Just read the bolded parts for a summary.
Video details deadly raid by Ogden police
By Erin Alberty
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Dec 24, 2010 06:54AM
Updated 1 hour ago
Shouts break the evening silence.
“Police! Search warrant!”
Officers burst through the door. A man appears across the room. Metal glints from his clasped hands. Shots echo from a police-issue Glock 22. Todd Blair slumps to the floor.
“Five seconds,” said Blair’s mother, Arlean. “In five seconds, he was dead.”
Officers entered Blair’s home Sept. 16 during a drug raid when he stepped into the hall, wielding a golf club, police video shows. Ogden police Sgt. Troy Burnett shot Blair, 45, in the head and chest.
The shooting was deemed legally justified.
“They could have handled it a lot better,” Arlean Blair countered. “They could have tasered him. They could have done a lot of things other than shoot him.”
Investigation reports obtained by The Tribune depict an operation that took some unexpected turns away from protocol before that one explosive moment.
Grounds for search » Whether Todd Blair was a ? dealer or just a well-connected addict is a matter of dispute. Investigators from Weber and Morgan counties began watching Blair in 2009 after hearing that he was letting drug dealers live at his home in exchange for their products, according to the search warrant request. There were previous reports of ? traffic to and from the home, near 5900 South and 2600 West in Roy. Investigators gathered evidence that it was Blair’s roommate, Melanie Chournos, buying and selling ? — a factor in the no-knock search that would precede Blair’s death.
Detectives later saw Blair leaving for short, nighttime trips, which suggested drug trades, they wrote. Two tipsters claimed that they had seen Blair — not just Chournos — handing drugs to customers.
Investigators, however, didn’t report seeing Blair make a transaction.
“He was not a dealer,” Arlean Blair insists. “I know that he used ... but he was not a drug dealer. A drug dealer has lots of money and nice things. If you looked in his house, he had nothing. He gave everything away to people who were having trouble.”
Two of Blair’s friends claimed they never saw him even use drugs, but others told police he had caved in to his ? addiction.
“He was paranoid,” said Candice Coburn, who added she was Blair’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. “His brain was fried. He would punch and yell at invisible people and me.”
On Sept. 16, the day of Blair’s death, Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force investigator Shane Keyes received word that Blair had 2 ounces of heroin and would be getting more that night. Keyes asked 2nd District Judge Scott M. Hadley for a no-knock, nighttime search warrant because house “lookouts” were known to give warning when police were nearby. ? dissolves quickly, Keyes added, and “if given the opportunity, Chournos will destroy the evidence.”
However, the warrant doesn’t mention that Chournos had already moved out of Blair’s home — a development officers noted in interviews after his death.
“I had been told that there was some ... domestic violence,” said Weber County sheriff’s Sgt. Nate Hutchinson, who was involved with the raid.
Blair was living alone. Because of the reports of violence, officers decided to wait until he left, pull him over in his Pontiac Grand Am and then search the empty house.
“Dynamic entry” » That night, officers saw people come and go from the home. Finally, a man matching Blair’s description got into the car with a woman and drove away.
Officers pulled them over, but instead found it was Blair’s friend, who had been staying with him. Police released the couple and returned their attention to Blair’s home.
The SWAT team prepared for a “dynamic entry” — breaking through the door and subduing anyone inside.
Normally, that involves extensive planning, officers said in investigation interviews.
“A PowerPoint presentation is typically put together (and) a briefing of everybody sitting around the round table in our office ... and all the details are laid out as far as the suspect, the location, the route in, the ... evacuation points and ... where the closest medical [facility] is,” officer Brandon Beck said in a transcribed interview with county investigators.
Instead, the team gathered at a nearby retirement home to go over the plan.
To do a dynamic entry without the in-office briefing is “absolutely not our standard,” said Burnett, the officer who shot Blair, during an interview with investigators.
On the video, minutes before the raid begins, an officer can be heard asking the group, “Did somebody grab a copy of the warrant off my desk?”
“Oh, don’t tell me that,” Burnett replies. He then tells the other officers, “He doesn’t have a copy of the warrant.”
Because the warrant was for a no-knock search, the copy wasn’t necessary to enter the house, Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said.
“Someone could have easily hurried and brought it back [from the office],” he said.
There is no time limit for when a warrant should be presented to a subject, agreed Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner — “it depends on the situation” — but generally when a warrant is served, “It’s in [officers’] possession at the time.”
As the raid played out, Blair wouldn’t ask for the warrant anyway.
Officers rush in » Burnett was assigned to lead the team in. It wouldn’t be his first use of deadly force — in 2006, he shot and killed white supremacist William Glen Maw after Maw fled from a traffic stop and then turned and pointed a gun at Burnett. Then-Weber County District Attorney Mark De Caria commended him for his bravery.
Outside Blair’s house, Burnett held his .40-caliber Glock 22 “at the low ready,” with a round in the chamber. Six other officers were behind him. It was about 9:30 p.m. when they began to yell, “Police! Search warrant!”
After three strikes on the door, it burst open.
Accounts of what happened next vary by a second here and a foot there.
Those minutiae matter, Smith said.
“We actually broke [the video] down frame by frame,” he said.
The second man in, Ogden officer Jared Francom, said Burnett had gotten “about one foot in the door” when gunfire erupted.
Burnett recalled:
“The door flew open. I was first in the door. I went to the right to ... a living-room area. ... I moved to the right to dig my corners.
“[The number of] feet from the front door to where I first saw him, I don’t know ... eight feet from inside the front door, but I had went ... to the right. I don’t know how far.”
Blair appeared in the door frame holding a MacGregor Lite golf club in the stance of a right-handed batter.
“He had some silver thing. ... I thought it was a sword or something,” Burnett said. “It was silverish and thin.
“I didn’t think about saying words. I just thought about not getting hit, or slashed or whatever.”
URL="http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50932722-76/blair-officer-force-deadly.html.csp?page=4"]Story continued here[/URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUHxgtTs6rYSince I'm sure most will disagree with the shooting, the question is:How should this raid have been handled and how should similar raids be handled?
INB4: "? the police", "tl;dr", etc.
Comments
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3 seconds after they shot him they said get on the ground... I mean they could have easily tased him.. gassed him.. came in with a police shield.. non lethal force they could have done a multitude of things..
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playmaker88 wrote: »3 seconds after they shot him they said get on the ground... I mean they could have easily tased him.. gassed him.. came in with a police shield.. non lethal force they could have done a multitude of things..
? he was close enough two of them could have threw his ass to the ground and cuffed him.
I do see why they shot him though, watch it frame by frame, he's holding the golf club like it's a rifle. He pops out from behind the corner in that stance and they shot him because if someone's going to shoot you, you don't have time to go over whether it's a gun, fake gun, object, etc... His own ? fault, if you're going to pop out in front of a swat team prepared for possible combat inside the house like you have a weapon you should know there's a high probability you're getting shot. The shooting of the dude with the knife posted not long ago isn't justified, this can be justified. -
Nice world we live in where ? can just run up in your house and shoot you and be justified about it.
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these ? no-knock warrants, i swear
watch the video
0:23 - "Police!"
0:29 - *GUNSHOTS*
SIX ? SECONDS!!!! (so I guess a black man would get 3?)
Then watch the pigs order him to "GET ON THE GROUND" when he's already DEAD.
Blair had been under investigation for several months by the strike force on suspicion of dealing ? and heroin. Only a small amount of marijuana, and paraphernalia, was found in the home, Smith said, and a small vial of what appeared to be ? was in the dead man's pants pocket.
Yeah, you nailed Heisenberg alright. Great police work, guys.
And that was a golf club he was holding btw. Obviously. -
They saw the golf club and got caught off guard and started shooting. They'll get reduced time, cuz cops aren't perfect and they're seen as do gooders who make mistakes..
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? gotta stop man...4 real
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Reminds me of the Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge shootings.
Man did not have time nor way to known who was invading his home.
If won't open in the original post, try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUHxgtTs6rY -
Damn....this is crazy.
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SIX ? SECONDS!!!! (so I guess a black man would get 3?)
LOL JUST STOP -
Damn, the bust in there firing like they were playing Call of Duty or something.
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BiblicalAtheist wrote: »They'll get reduced time
I'm sorry reduced time? TIME? Are you implying that any of them will go to PRISON? HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.John Prewett wrote: »Reminds me of the Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge shootings.
I thought of that too. Like what happens when one of these stupid-ass raids goes down at a gun nut's crib?? Then I realized that already happened at Ruby Ridge. And they may have been some white supremacist crackas, but ? , at least they took some of those stormtroopers with 'em.
Of course, the Law got its payback when that sniper blew Mrs. Weaver's head off while she was fleeing gunfire with her 10 month old baby in her arms. Fight and you'll never survive, run and you'll never escape.... -
Again, you have a ? who tries being a hardass with police. They are going into a situation where gun fire may erupt so they're antsy, they are human so they no get nerves kicking before busting in. Dude pops around a corner holding a golf club like a rifle, gets shot because you're trained to shoot before the other guy, so ? him./
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His little, golf stick wasn't a threat to them, they could have reasoned with him. I don' see how you can just ? someone in cold blood and move along like it was nothing.
Police should be held accountable for 'wrongful' deaths to the same extent that civilians are. A police officer is a warrior and a warrior should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the innocent. If they're not sure whether or not someone is a threat to them (not to other civilians), they should assume that they aren't. -
Old.. theres a thread on this.. probably on the second or third page of this section ..
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.... here..
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His little, golf stick wasn't a threat to them, they could have reasoned with him. I don' see how you can just ? someone in cold blood and move along like it was nothing.
Police should be held accountable for 'wrongful' deaths to the same extent that civilians are. A police officer is a warrior and a warrior should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the innocent. If they're not sure whether or not someone is a threat to them (not to other civilians), they should assume that they aren't.
Did they know with absolute certainty in that split second the object he turned the corner pointing at them with was a golf club? No. Your brain reacts in one way, when you're threatened you retaliate. They were already headed into a situation where gun fight was a strong possibility, if some ? is going to pop out of a corner holding a club like an assualt rifle knowing that police are coming through with guns drawn expecting a firefight your ? deserves to get shot. This case they had probably cause to fire. What would have happened had they held fire and it was an assault rifle he turned the corner with, they would have died instead of him. It's alright to call out injustices and misuse of force in most of these cases, this ? aint one of them. Quit giving stupid ? people a pass for their actions. The guy was killed because of his ? actions and his actions only. -
ThaChozenWun wrote: »Did they know with absolute certainty in that split second the object he turned the corner pointing at them with was a golf club? No. Your brain reacts in one way, when you're threatened you retaliate. They were already headed into a situation where gun fight was a strong possibility, if some ? is going to pop out of a corner holding a club like an assualt rifle knowing that police are coming through with guns drawn expecting a firefight your ? deserves to get shot. This case they had probably cause to fire. What would have happened had they held fire and it was an assault rifle he turned the corner with, they would have died instead of him. It's alright to call out injustices and misuse of force in most of these cases, this ? aint one of them. Quit giving stupid ? people a pass for their actions. The guy was killed because of his ? actions and his actions only.
You make a a good point but this is what they should be prepared for. They should learn to inhibit their instinct and take every precaution necessary to protect civilians. -
You make a a good point but this is what they should be prepared for. They should learn to inhibit their instinct and take every precaution necessary to protect civilians.
And in this case had they taken caution and not acted quickly enough had the guy had a real gun they'd be the ones dead. Their isn't time to think and figure out what he's pointing at you really is, no one wants to die, and when confronted with death, most people will take another persons life before theirs is taken. What else could they have done? It was a bust they couldn't search the house when he wasn't home to be sure he didn't have weapons, they weren't able to tell if he had weapons on him, they didn't have xray goggles to see behind walls to know he was going to pop out aiming a golf club at them. He ? himself it's that simple. If people want to be upset be upset about the little girl that got shot because of bad planning and not following protocol, or the guy that got shot in the head 4 times because he was wielding a knife when the officer had a taser gun on him and was 20 feet away. Be upset about Shawn Bell. Not this ? , it's his fault he got shot and anyone in the officers position would have ended up pulling the trigger that quick too. -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »Damn, the bust in there firing like they were playing Call of Duty or something.
lol............ -
Swiffness! wrote: »I'm sorry reduced time? TIME? Are you implying that any of them will go to PRISON? HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Yeah I thought about what I said after, who was I kidding. -
Dude why u celebrating like this dont mostly happen to blacks.its over: 2012! wrote: »Quit making excuses, for White savages.
He was an idiot, likely assuming that White Privilege, would see him through once the cops opened that door.
Check his criminal record, check his photos on Facebook and other places:
this guy had many many decades, of keeping police busy.
What does his criminal record matter? Pigs are just murderers for the sake of murdering. He coulda been any color (but especially black). -
Dude why u celebrating like this dont mostly happen to blacks.
What does his criminal record matter? Pigs are just murderers for the sake of murdering. He coulda been any color (but especially black).
Exactly. If you aren't willing to stand up for this guy, you're undermining the effort to prevent this when it happens to black people as well.
Swiffness made a point that should be noted, it was a no-knock warrant, meaning they busted down his door at the same time they were identifying themselves, so in all the chaos, it's unreasonable for him to be expected to think "Oh wait, did they say they were the police? I better calm down and cooperate." Nah, ? that, in the 5 seconds he had between them busting down his door unannounced and them shooting him, all he knew was that someone was invading his home. Act like you wouldn't grab that golf club too in the same situation. -
actually, even worse: she wasn't fleeing gunfire, she was standing in her home holding the baby as people ran towards the house.Swiffness! wrote: »Of course, the Law got its payback when that sniper blew Mrs. Weaver's head off while she was fleeing gunfire with her 10 month old baby in her arms. Fight and you'll never survive, run and you'll never escape...
now, in all seriousness, you consider the background before you take the shot. so at best the sniper who fired didn't do his ? job.
or possibly he was unaware of who exactly was in the house and rounded the corner with a golf clubThaChozenWun wrote: »Again, you have a ? who tries being a hardass with police.
it may be the case that these cops legitimately responded out of fear of seeing a gun ... but unfortunately, it is their job to properly verify what their target is and THEN decide to use deadly force. that's the dangerous part of being a police officer and the justification for them being decked out in body armor and toting automatic weapons. -
Agreed....shootemwon wrote: »Exactly. If you aren't willing to stand up for this guy, you're undermining the effort to prevent this when it happens to black people as well.
Swiffness made a point that should be noted, it was a no-knock warrant, meaning they busted down his door at the same time they were identifying themselves, so in all the chaos, it's unreasonable for him to be expected to think "Oh wait, did they say they were the police? I better calm down and cooperate." Nah, ? that, in the 5 seconds he had between them busting down his door unannounced and them shooting him, all he knew was that someone was invading his home. Act like you wouldn't grab that golf club too in the same situation. -
Do you get off on being so damn blind?ThaChozenWun wrote:Again, you have a ? who tries being a hardass with police.
Its like you dont even bother to think ? through.
You just say, "Cop right...cop always right...I iz good slave."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV6Bq8xeQrU
