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Farmington Police officers went to the wrong house and killed the man who came to the door with a gun (New Mexico)
The Albuquerque Journal ^ | April 7, 2023 | Matthew Reisen

Posted on 04/07/2023 1:44:35 PM PDT by CedarDave

Farmington police responding to an argument went to the wrong house Wednesday night and shot and killed the homeowner when he came to the door with a gun in his hand.

New Mexico State Police spokesman Ray Wilson said officers “mistakenly” went to the home of 52-year-old Robert Dotson and killed him before shooting at his wife in a neighborhood near the Animas River.

Wilson said Dotson’s wife fired back at police from the doorway and officers shot at her but missed. Wilson added, “Once she realized that the individuals outside the residence were officers, she put the gun down and complied with the officer’s commands.”

Shanice Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the Farmington Police Department, said three officers who were “directly involved” have been put on administrative leave.

Gonzales said the call police were initially to be responding to was for a “verbal argument” and nobody was injured or detained in that incident. She did not say how the address mix-up occurred.

By Friday morning the incident had made national news and a Facebook video posted by Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe garnered hundreds of comments from those criticizing the officers, demanding Hebbe’s resignation and talking about what a good man Dotson, a father, was.

In the video Hebbe said it was “a very dark day” for the department.

“What I will tell you, as the chief, is this is an extremely traumatic event and that I am just heartbroken by the circumstances surrounding this,” he said. “Mr. Dotson was not the subject of the call that our officers were responding to and this ending is just unbelievably tragic. I am extremely sorry that we are in this position.”

He added, “There is nothing I can say that will make this better.”

(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS: banglist; police; whoops
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To: CedarDave
Gonzales said the call police were initially to be responding to was for a “verbal argument” and nobody was injured or detained in that incident. She did not say how the address mix-up occurred.

An innocent man was murdered because a verbal argument was taking place in the area??

41 posted on 04/07/2023 2:42:56 PM PDT by Allegra
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To: CedarDave

This happens all too often. There needs to be harsh penalties for this stuff. Taking an innocent life because you did not confirm the address is unforgivable.


42 posted on 04/07/2023 2:44:23 PM PDT by LeoTDB69
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To: CedarDave

Thanks for the NM update! I lived there near Tesuque Pueblo in the 1970s. From what you describe, this is NM Gov’t sponsered medieval feudalism. Where they steal (taxes) from the local oil drilling/producing companies. In order to fund the Government’s harebrained greenie crony’s schemes and to feather the nests of the Gov’t workers. As in all other citizens can eat sh____.

Though I will say that solar farms can work in New Mexico (dry and sunny) if they can effectively hook into the grid. Unlike solar in Minnesota, New York and New Hampshire.


43 posted on 04/07/2023 2:45:13 PM PDT by dennisw
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To: CedarDave

Oh yeah, back the blue...sure we should.


44 posted on 04/07/2023 2:46:33 PM PDT by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks, and have the will to use them.)
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To: Allegra

“An innocent man was murdered because a verbal argument was taking place in the area??”

Verbal Arguments are extremely dangerous and life threatening. With all those Pronouns and vulgarity flying around without discretion.


45 posted on 04/07/2023 2:47:36 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: Fido969

“I wonder if the rendered aid after they shot him.”

~~~~~~~

Depends upon how many pieces they blew him into, I suppose.


46 posted on 04/07/2023 2:48:50 PM PDT by EasySt (Say not this is the truth, but so it seems to me to be, as I see this thing I think I see. #MAGA,A.)
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To: CedarDave

Good for NM. Qualified immunity along with civil asset forfeiture are the two worst legal concepts in the USA


47 posted on 04/07/2023 2:51:16 PM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy - EVs a solution for which there is no problem)
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To: CedarDave

I’m kind of surprised that the story is (apparently) balanced, I’m surprised that they didn’t kill them both and then pile up all the weapons and ammo, knives, baseball bats etc. on the property and invite the media in to take photos and write a sensationalistic article on how they thwarted a terrorist act.


48 posted on 04/07/2023 2:51:34 PM PDT by LegendHasIt
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To: CedarDave

Something similar happened in maryland a while back except the innocent homeowner shot and wounded two cops. He was released immediately.


49 posted on 04/07/2023 2:53:52 PM PDT by cyclotic
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To: CedarDave
He added, “There is nothing I can say that will make this better.”

Simply wrong. What you could have said was "The officers involved have been charged and are awaiting trial". That would have made it better.

50 posted on 04/07/2023 3:00:46 PM PDT by taxcontrol (The choice is clear - either live as a slave on your knees or die as a free citizen on your feet.)
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To: kiryandil

frankly, we live out a bit, and if someone knocked on our door in the middle of the night, my husband would bring a gun and I would want him to...that or let me answer the door with him off to the side ready to shoot.


51 posted on 04/07/2023 3:03:29 PM PDT by cherry
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To: LegendHasIt

Patrick Tuttle and Rhogena Nichols, Houston.


52 posted on 04/07/2023 3:04:34 PM PDT by Eagles6 (Welcome to the Matrix . Orwell's "1984" was a warning, not an instruction manual.)
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To: cherry

The cops claim they identified themselves as police, but the fact that an innocent homeowner did not know who they were, and the wife started firing, but stopped when she saw they were police, shows that they did not adquately identify themselves to the homeowner.

That seem to be common thing in these kinds of events.


53 posted on 04/07/2023 3:13:58 PM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman! )
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To: CedarDave

Never go to the door with a gun showing. Hold it behind your back if need be.


54 posted on 04/07/2023 3:14:45 PM PDT by Brooklyn Attitude (I went to bed on November 3rd 2020 and woke up in 1984.)
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To: from occupied ga
Unless you have a M-60 trained on the door as one of my acquaintances who lives in Atlanta claimed he did during the riots.

Don't forget the Claymores in the shrubbery!

55 posted on 04/07/2023 3:19:33 PM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Militia to the border! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: LegendHasIt

“I’m kind of surprised that the story is (apparently) balanced, I’m surprised that they didn’t kill them both and then pile up all the weapons and ammo, knives, baseball bats etc. on the property and invite the media in to take photos and write a sensationalistic article on how they thwarted a terrorist act.”

Actually you are right. They didn’t try to twist it into the full fault of the victims.


56 posted on 04/07/2023 3:21:56 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: CedarDave
He added, “There is nothing I can say that will make this better.”

There's an understatement.
57 posted on 04/07/2023 3:21:58 PM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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To: SaveFerris

far too many wrong addressess that end in the killing of innocent people by law enforcement.


58 posted on 04/07/2023 3:23:24 PM PDT by Ronald77
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To: CedarDave
But the state itself has billions in surplus oil dollars (number 2 behind Texas) and just got through throwing them all over the place, especially to combat climate change...

Which is a foolish waste of money. If every country on Earth confiscated every penny beyond bare subsistence from every person and spent it all on “climate”, they couldn't affect the global temperature by one degree or the sea levels by an inch. If you believe otherwise, you have been scammed.

59 posted on 04/07/2023 3:24:21 PM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Militia to the border! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: ConservativeMind
She should have kept it up.

She should have legally been in the right.


It certainly would have saved the state some lawsuit money, since she wouldn't be there to press the case.
60 posted on 04/07/2023 3:25:20 PM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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