Something seemed odd when I posted this this story last week about a raid on an Ontario home that neighbors said was “definitely a crack house.”
“Gunfire injures officer during drug raid in Lindsay,” the Guelph Mercury headline announced, while the article reported that the incident—which also left a 21-year-old resident dead—was “another example of the dangers officers face on a daily basis.” But none of the media reports said drugs were found, only one resident was charged (and she wasn’t charged on a drug offense), and the follow-up news last week didn’t explain who shot the cop.
Yet the newspaper waxed on about how “It’s a dangerous job.” If nobody was charged with shooting the cop, who did it? The dead guy?
No.
“We did confirm that one of the wounds sustained by the officer was a bullet from a police firearm,” Ontario Special Investigations Unit spokesman Frank Phillips said by phone this morning. Were any wounds caused by the residents of the house? Phillips wouldn’t comment, saying that the police firearms have been seized for ballistics tests and the case is “under investigation.”
For what it’s worth, I agree with the first reporting: Cops do face risks on a daily basis. But it leaves out something crucial. One of those risks—when raiding crack houses that that result in zero drug charges—is the unnecessary risk a cop faces in a senseless drug raid of getting shot by another cop’s gun.
Cops shooting cops.
The new MTV “reality” TV show.
Hopefully, they killed the family dog, threw any children present onto the floor, and set off a flashbang before shooting one another. That way, at least there was some confusion to cite as the cause. Otherwise, they are both lacking in outrageous machismo and aggression, AND incapable of properly controlling their fire.
Paging 5280. Come in 5280. Your wisdom is needed here.
One of the things that bugs me about these “known crackhouse” raids is that who knows if it’s really a crackhouse? A long time ago I had a friend who’s house I regularly visited as did a lot of other people as he had a lot of friends from all over. It wasn’t a crackhouse, he didn’t even do drugs, but since a lot of young people would stop by regularly the neighbors assumed him to be a drug dealer. Luckily the cops in that town knew better and didn’t smash through the door with automatic weapons blazing, but it just as easily could have gone that way.
@4 – Seriously. Why are we even taking quotes from the neighbors? Are they experts or just nearby? The followup question to that statement should be “Really? How much crack did you buy there?”
We’re such a bad influence on Canada.