Farmington Police officers went to the wrong house and killed the man who came to the door with a gun

[Auburn85 438]

https://www.abqjournal.com/2588882/farmington-police-officers-killed-robert-dotson-while-responding-to-the-wrong-house.html

 

Quote

 

By Matthew Reisen / Journal Staff Writer

 

Friday, April 7th, 2023

 

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.

She would not say how many of those officers fired their weapons, give their names or say how long they had been with the department.

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.”

Hebbe said the department would release videos and more information on the shooting “within a week.”

 

Barron Jones, with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said the public “deserve to trust that calling a police officer will help make a situation safer – not cause it to end in tragedy.”

“It is deplorable that the Farmington Police Department not only failed to show up to the right house when someone called for help, but also fatally shot an innocent man in the process,” he said. “… There needs to be an independent and thorough investigation of the incident, and the Farmington Police Department and the officers involved must be held accountable.”

Wilson, the State Police spokesman, said Farmington officers responded around 11:30 p.m. to a domestic violence incident at 5308 Valley View. He said officers mistakenly approached a house across the street, 5305 Valley View, knocked on the door and announced themselves as police.

Wilson said there was no answer and police asked dispatchers to have the reporting party on the initial call come to the door. He said lapel footage showed as officers backed away Dotson opened the screen door with a gun.

“At this point in the encounter, officer(s) fired at least one round from their duty weapon(s) striking Mr. Dotson,” Wilson said in a release. “After the initial shooting, Mr. Dotson’s wife, also armed with a handgun, fired from the doorway of the residence. Once again, officer(s) fired.”

He said when Dotson’s wife realized it was police she put the gun down and obeyed officers’ commands. Wilson said Robert Dotson died at the scene and his wife, who was not injured, “has not been charged with a crime.”

In the Facebook video, Hebbe said after Dotson came to the door “what followed was a chaotic scene, with officers retreating and opening fire.” He said the department has been looking over the facts to figure out “what had happened and how it happened so fast.”

Numerous people commented on the video, calling Dotson “a great guy”and demanding punishment for the department.

One man wrote, of Dotson, “He had two kids in the home he was protecting. I hope they all are fired. Maybe even charged and the chief resigns.”

“All he was doing was what anyone of us would do when someone knocks on our door at that time of night. Answering the door locked and loaded to protect our family. I’m not one to bash our cops but this is just wrong,” another wrote.

A third commented, “This should’ve never happened. Had these cops done what they’re supposed to do an innocent man wouldn’t have been killed. These officers need to be fired and face charges.”

 

 

[AUDub 11,974]

We're gonna blame the officers and not the circumstances that lead to this situation, aren't we. 

[DKW 86 7,921]

Professionalism must be completely lacking in Farmington, NM.

An innocent man is dead. 4 Cops careers are shot to hell. I would not be surprised to learn that criminal charges arent coming.

Now, if this was Maricopa County, AZ, the Officers would be retiring with full pensions regardless of time served and a heroes salute.

[AUDub 11,974]

7 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

Professionalism must be completely lacking in Farmington, NM.

An innocent man is dead. 4 Cops careers are shot to hell. I would not be surprised to learn that criminal charges arent coming.

Now, if this was Maricopa County, AZ, the Officers would be retiring with full pensions regardless of time served and a heroes salute.

Cops are still human and there will be errors.

This isn't malice but a s***ty set of circumstances.

[DKW 86 7,921]

17 minutes ago, AUDub said:

Cops are still human and there will be errors.

This isn't malice but a s***ty set of circumstances.

That left a 100% Innocent Man dead and his wife being shot at. 

These guys are so damn dumb that they cant determine the street number of the house??? Really???

[aubiefifty 18,345]

i would just like to know how this country seemingly got so blood thirsty. i often wonder if it has always been that way? what has changed? for a christian  nation who's mantra is turn the other cheek we sure do a lot of killing. and this is not a shot at christians.

[Mikey 16,781]

1 hour ago, aubiefifty said:

i would just like to know how this country seemingly got so blood thirsty. i often wonder if it has always been that way? what has changed? for a christian  nation who's mantra is turn the other cheek we sure do a lot of killing. and this is not a shot at christians.

What has changed? Criminals are released as soon as they are arrested and they simply resume their criminal activities. This alone makes honest citizens see the need to have firearms for home defense. The above tragedy is terrible but as long as people cannot feel safe in their homes things similar to this will be happening.

Many, many honest citizens have successfully defended their homes by shooting or threatening to shoot criminal home invaders. The media doesn't want us to see those things. I saw somewhere (no link right now) that FBI statistics claimed 43,000 events in one single year where an honest citizen being armed prevented a robbery or mugging.

We need more guns in the hands of the citizenry, not fewer.

[DKW 86 7,921]

I actually went to google maps street view. Both houses were CLEARLY marked. 

5308, the original call home, was on the mailbox.

5305, the nicest house in the neighborhood, was clearly marked on the wall by the garage in 3-4" numbers AND on the mailbox. I am really having a hard time figuring out how this was so hard to miss.

I may post the pics later, but go to google maps and see what they missed.

5305 Numbers are under the Light fixture on the garage and CLEARLY on the MAILBOX.

5308 numbers are washed out some on the mailbox but still readable, they are also on the house right beside the front door.

See for yourselves.

https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/update-neighbors-respond-to-police-shooting-in-farmington/

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by DKW 86

[DKW 86 7,921]

More information:

https://reason.com/2023/04/07/new-mexico-cops-fatally-shoot-homeowner-after-showing-up-at-the-wrong-house/

As they started to leave, 52-year-old homeowner Robert Dotson opened his front door holding a handgun—not an entirely unreasonable thing for someone to do when they get a strange knock on their door late at night.

 

No one alleges that Dotson pointed the gun at the police officers or threatened them.

Nonetheless, "at this point in the encounter, officer(s) fired at least one round from their duty weapon(s) striking Mr. Dotson," the state police report. The Farmington officers did not even tell the man who answered the door to drop his weapon nor give him time to comply with their order before firing upon him, according to the statement from state police.

This would be an insane overreaction even if the police had been at the right house. That police weren't even at the right house of course makes the shooting all the more senseless.

Dotson was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Mr. Dotson was not the subject of the call that our officers were responding to, and this ending is just unbelievably tragic," Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said in a video posted to Facebook. "I'm extremely sorry that we're in this position. We'll find more facts as we go through the investigation."

Police say they will release body camera footage of the incident within a week.

People claiming to know Dotson reacted in disbelief and anger to Hebbe's Facebook announcement. "This was a good man. He had two kids in the home he was protecting. I hope they all are fired," posted RJ Brown. Another commenter responded, "Fired? They need prison time. No mercy."

"What a terrible loss to our community," posted Gregg Tradup. "He was a good man who worked hard to provide for his family and was a genuine great guy. All he was doing was what anyone of us would do when someone knocks on our door at that time of night."

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by DKW 86

[AUDub 11,974]

3 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

That left a 100% Innocent Man dead and his wife being shot at.

These guys are so damn dumb that they cant determine the street number of the house??? Really???

Blaming the cops won't solve this. Human errors happen everyday.

We won't change this big dumb machine that eats fear and sh**s out tragedy because we don't want to, and tragedies like this will continue.  

Edited April 9, 2023 by AUDub

[CoffeeTiger 5,915]

On 4/9/2023 at 9:46 AM, Mikey said:

What has changed? Criminals are released as soon as they are arrested and they simply resume their criminal activities. This alone makes honest citizens see the need to have firearms for home defense. The above tragedy is terrible but as long as people cannot feel safe in their homes things similar to this will be happening.

Many, many honest citizens have successfully defended their homes by shooting or threatening to shoot criminal home invaders. The media doesn't want us to see those things. I saw somewhere (no link right now) that FBI statistics claimed 43,000 events in one single year where an honest citizen being armed prevented a robbery or mugging.

We need more guns in the hands of the citizenry, not fewer.

[Mikey 16,781]

3 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

1% of firearm fatalities are crooks getting killed? That's ok. That stat doesn't address the thousands of incidents in which the honest citizen having a firearm stops the crime, whether the gun is actually fired or not and it doesn't address when the criminal may have been wounded but not killed. Typical lib cherry pick though, to be expected.

[arein0 1,106]

5 minutes ago, Mikey said:

1% of firearm fatalities are crooks getting killed? That's ok. That stat doesn't address the thousands of incidents in which the honest citizen having a firearm stops the crime, whether the gun is actually fired or not and it doesn't address when the criminal may have been wounded but not killed. Typical lib cherry pick though, to be expected.

What I don't understand is why do conservatives want to make guns more easily available? Doesn't this just make it easier for the bad guys to legally get their hands on guns? Why are conservatives so scared of making it harder to buy weapons? The good guys will have nothing to hide and should still be able to legally buy a gun.

[Mikey 16,781]

1 minute ago, arein0 said:

What I don't understand is why do conservatives want to make guns more easily available? Doesn't this just make it easier for the bad guys to legally get their hands on guns? Why are conservatives so scared of making it harder to buy weapons? The good guys will have nothing to hide and should still be able to legally buy a gun.

By definition, criminals do not obey laws. "Bad guys" will get their guns anyway, laws or not. A start would be for the existing laws to be enforced but that would require work and money. It's more fun for politicians to bluster and pass new laws that will only hinder honest people.

For example, most of the handguns in Chicago are illegally owned. Why don't the authorities enforce existing laws and take those guns up? That would require work and money, so lets just pass a law that won't be enforced and go to the beach for a week.

[NWALA Tiger 3,705]

6 minutes ago, Mikey said:

By definition, criminals do not obey laws. "Bad guys" will get their guns anyway, laws or not. A start would be for the existing laws to be enforced but that would require work and money. It's more fun for politicians to bluster and pass new laws that will only hinder honest people.

For example, most of the handguns in Chicago are illegally owned. Why don't the authorities enforce existing laws and take those guns up? That would require work and money, so lets just pass a law that won't be enforced and go to the beach for a week.

Great point. Wondered that myself

[arein0 1,106]

5 minutes ago, Mikey said:

By definition, criminals do not obey laws. "Bad guys" will get their guns anyway, laws or not. A start would be for the existing laws to be enforced but that would require work and money. It's more fun for politicians to bluster and pass new laws that will only hinder honest people.

For example, most of the handguns in Chicago are illegally owned. Why don't the authorities enforce existing laws and take those guns up? That would require work and money, so lets just pass a law that won't be enforced and go to the beach for a week.

The thing is, the good guys aren't going to buy a gun with the intent or need to use it right away. So why not make it harder to legally purchase? This would have prevented the Nashville shooting. Also most of the criminals that get their hands on guns illegally are from stolen guns. You could easily make it a requirement to take a proper gun storage and safety class to reduce the amount of stolen guns.

[DKW 86 7,921]

20 hours ago, Mikey said:

By definition, criminals do not obey laws. "Bad guys" will get their guns anyway, laws or not. A start would be for the existing laws to be enforced but that would require work and money. It's more fun for politicians to bluster and pass new laws that will only hinder honest people.

For example, most of the handguns in Chicago are illegally owned. Why don't the authorities enforce existing laws and take those guns up? That would require work and money, so lets just pass a law that won't be enforced and go to the beach for a week.

Bro. STFU. We are NEVER EVER going after criminals with guns. No one on the Left talks even a second about doing that. They want more laws, that like the laws we already have, will only be obeyed by Law-Abiding Citizens. They don't care about doing anything about guns in criminal hands. NOTHING. Think about why that is...

[DKW 86 7,921]

20 hours ago, arein0 said:

The thing is, the good guys aren't going to buy a gun with the intent or need to use it right away. So why not make it harder to legally purchase? This would have prevented the Nashville shooting. Also most of the criminals that get their hands on guns illegally are from stolen guns. You could easily make it a requirement to take a proper gun storage and safety class to reduce the amount of stolen guns.

I would support this 100% because it goes after the criminals. Make the owner civilly liable for the use of their guns. Make the guns be stored safely. And add time and maybe notification of family members to the purchase process? I don't even know if that is legal. Radically change the mental health game in America. That is doing something. What we have proposed now is going to do jack squat.

[arein0 1,106]

53 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

Bro. STFU. We are NEVER EVER going after criminals with guns. No one on the Left talks even a second about doing that. They want more laws, that like the laws we already have, will only be obeyed by Law-Abiding Citizens. They don't care about doing anything about guns in criminal hands. NOTHING. Think about why that is...

Im all for going after criminals that have guns, but not all bad guys have a criminal history.

How do we actively determine who is bad and also determine whether or not that they have a gun? Wouldn't this require a massive invasion of privacy to accomplish this? Wouldn't you be worried that this could be used to target a side of the political spectrum?

[Mikey 16,781]

21 hours ago, arein0 said:

The thing is, the good guys aren't going to buy a gun with the intent or need to use it right away. So why not make it harder to legally purchase? This would have prevented the Nashville shooting. Also most of the criminals that get their hands on guns illegally are from stolen guns. You could easily make it a requirement to take a proper gun storage and safety class to reduce the amount of stolen guns.

You have no idea whether such laws would have prevented the Nashville shooting or not. That's just speculation on your part. It's more likely that the Nashville murderer would have simply bought one or more guns on the street.

[arein0 1,106]

Just now, Mikey said:

You have no idea whether such laws would have prevented the Nashville shooting or not. That's just speculation on your part. It's more likely that the Nashville murderer would have simply bought one or more guns on the street.

Your claim is also pure speculation. The fact that they were able to legally buy their guns is more of a concern to me. Having more guns only makes it easier for the bad guys to obtain weapons, and the mass shooters really don't care if you do or don't have a weapon. They are just trying to take out as many people as they can before they get gunned down.

[arein0 1,106]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

You have no idea whether such laws would have prevented the Nashville shooting or not. That's just speculation on your part. It's more likely that the Nashville murderer would have simply bought one or more guns on the street.

Also, why does it seem that most of the mass shootings happen in the south? Is the south just more mentally unstable or do the lax gun laws allow the mentally unstable to easily obtain a weapon?

[CoffeeTiger 5,915]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

You have no idea whether such laws would have prevented the Nashville shooting or not. That's just speculation on your part. It's more likely that the Nashville murderer would have simply bought one or more guns on the street.

One thing we do know for sure is that TN's super lax gun laws and huge amounts of "good guys with guns" sure didn't stop the shooting from happening either. 

 

And most of the recent mass shootings and school shootings have been made with guns purchased legally from stores. So regardless of how easy you think getting these guns on the streets/blackmarket may be, a lot of the shooters apparently find it much easier still to just buy them from gun stores legally. 

[DKW 86 7,921]

9 hours ago, arein0 said:

Im all for going after criminals that have guns, but not all bad guys have a criminal history.

How do we actively determine who is bad and also determine whether or not that they have a gun? Wouldn't this require a massive invasion of privacy to accomplish this? Wouldn't you be worried that this could be used to target a side of the political spectrum?

Yes, but we are going to sacrifice some privacy no matter what. And again, you are talking about givens here. Is one side going to keep demanding ever more restrictions? Of course they are.

[DKW 86 7,921]

8 hours ago, arein0 said:

Also, why does it seem that most of the mass shootings happen in the south? Is the south just more mentally unstable or do the lax gun laws allow the mentally unstable to easily obtain a weapon?

It is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer...