Police In TN Raid Wrong House, Kill Homeowner

On Wednesday, April 24, 2013 in Lebanon, TN, a 61 year old man was shot to death while his wife was handcuffed in another room by police during a drug raid on the WRONG house.

John Adams and his wife Loraine were watching TV when Loraine heard a pounding on the door. Although police say they identified themselves and wore police jackets, the widow says she had no indication the men were police.

“I thought it was a home invasion. I said ‘Baby, get your gun!,” she said, sitting amid friends and relatives gathered at her home to cook and prepare for Sunday’s funeral. Well, Mr. Adams did get his gun and allegedly fired his sawed off shotgun at the police and they responded. Mr. Adam's was shot at least 3 times and later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door. What a mistake. Perhaps if the police would have taken the time to know who lived in the house they were going to raid, then maybe the age of the victims would have thrown up a red flag.

The two officers, 25-year-old Kyle Shedran and 24-year-old Greg Day, were placed on administrative leave with pay. I understand that if the police are being shot at, they have a duty and a responsibility to shoot back, but they never should have been there in the first place.

“They need to get rid of those men, boys with toys,” said Adams’ 70-year-old widow, Loraine.

“We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made,” Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. “It’s a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes us look at our own policies and procedures to make sure this never occurs again.” He said, however, the two policemen were not at fault.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating. NAACP officials said they are monitoring the case. Adams was black. The two policemen are white. I can already see the race card being thrown into the mix here.

This is a sad scenario. Police were clearly in the wrong for being at this house in the first place. However, being shot at from a homeowner who they believed at the time to be a criminal justifies their right to shoot back. The moral of this story, if there is one at all, is to not shoot at the police first if they break down your door. I hope this widow and her family can find some peace. This is tragic, indeed.