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| ‘If
something's not done about it, it's going to happen again. If something's
not done quickly this next time it could be a police officer who knows.’
—Annette Stafford County Commissioner |
The plain clothed
officers broke down his door, and shot Adams, who they say, fired at them
with a shotgun. It was all a mistake. Police were supposed to raid the
house next-door. County commissioner Annette Stafford says the mix-up has
further divided the police and Lebanon’s black
community. “If something’s not done about it, it’s going to happen again. If something’s not done quickly this next time it could be a police officer who knows,” said Commissioner Stafford. Stafford says she’s very worried about the impact of Wednesday night’s shooting. It turned out officers Greg Day and Kyle Shedron and should have been at the house next door. |
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|  Their search warrant was not for John
Adams, 62 years old, disabled, and with poor eyesight. “The officers going
into the scene all they knew, they were going to serve a warrant. They
didn’t know it was a drug raid. To me that’s a problem. I think everybody
involved should know what’s going on before you kick down a door or bother
to get to that point,” said Commissioner
Stafford.Commissioner Stafford says the mix-up, apparently based on information from a drug informant, has further divided the police and Lebanon’s black community. “I hate that man had to die, an innocent man had to die but what are we to do. Now is the time to bridge and build that gap,” said Stafford. Lebanon’s Police Chief wasn’t able to talk Friday. Chief Billy weeks did say that his officers aren’t a bunch of rogue cops. He says this was simply a mistake by officer who didn’t know they were at the wrong house. The shooting has clearly divided this community and many still have faith in the job the chief and his force are doing. “Tragic mistake, surely it was. There’s another group of people in the police department other than these two involved in this and you have to have some confidence in them,” said W.T. Nolen of Lebanon. “I have good faith in our police department. I think they do a great job. It’s very unfortunate the man died but hey he pulled a gun,” said Lynn Williams of Lebanon. While the two officers directly involved in the shooting remain on administrative leave five others who were at Adams house that night, remain under investigation. The T.B.I. is investigating the shooting. And the Lebanon police chief says he’s reviewing internal policies and procedures to make sure this never happens again. Funeral arrangements for John Adams will be Sunday at the J.C. Hellums Funeral Home in Lebanon. Visitation will be from 1pm to 2pm with the funeral service immediately following. |
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