# Police Go to Wrong Address; Kill 72 Year Old Homeowner **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613 "2013-07-26T18:51:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/1 "2013-07-26T18:51:01Z")
“FORT WORTH — Police officers responding to a burglary alarm call went to the wrong house because of poor lighting and fatally shot an armed homeowner, according to a search warrant affidavit released Wednesday… “My father never stepped outside of his garage,” son Chris Waller told the Star-Telegram the day after the shooting. “He was shot multiple times in the chest only a few steps away from the doorway to his kitchen.”” [http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/07/24/5026226/affidavit-police-went-to-wrong.html](http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/07/24/5026226/affidavit-police-went-to-wrong.html) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/2 "2013-07-26T18:53:12Z")
Best username / Post combo of the day. (too soon?) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/3 "2013-07-26T18:55:16Z")
Gee, Texas. Who woulda thunk it. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/4 "2013-07-26T19:03:43Z")
Really, given the statement that he pointed his gun at the police, this is a lot less egregious than one would have expected. Frankly, this is just the sort of “whoops, you’re dead” situation that can happen when people are amped up and armed. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/5 "2013-07-26T19:07:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Gee, Texas. Who woulda thunk it. What do you mean? Are police officers in Texas towns more likely to show up at the wrong home or shoot w/o properly identifying? Or do you mean Texas residents are more likely to own guns and then be targets? Because Texas ranks 30th in gun ownership by residents at 35.9%, in the median range by [this](http://usliberals.about.com/od/Election2012Factors/a/Gun-Owners-As-Percentage-Of-Each-States-Population.htm) assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/6 "2013-07-26T19:08:06Z")
No matter how bad the lighting was, it doesn’t change the fact that odd number houses are on the opposite side of the street of the even numbered houses-the house they were looking for _couldn’t_ be where they were at the time. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/7 "2013-07-26T19:08:17Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Really, given the statement that he pointed his gun at the police, this is a lot less egregious than one would have expected. > > Frankly, this is just the sort of “whoops, you’re dead” situation that can happen when people are amped up and armed. Yeah right. After the police identified themselves he pointed the gun at them. What unmitigated gall that guy had to get his gun out. He should have realized the armed guys breaking into his house were the police. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/8 "2013-07-26T19:14:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He should have realized the armed guys breaking into his house were the police. You know, I can’t even decide to assign blame to anyone. The cops went to the wrong house… ok, they don’t really deserve to be shot at because they walked up to the [wrong house.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori) The guy sees people skulking around with flashlights, he tries to defend his home. Both parties are amped up, stressed, and armed, someone is likely to wind up dead. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/9 "2013-07-26T19:23:42Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Really, given the statement that he pointed his gun at the police, this is a lot less egregious than one would have expected. The statement given by who? Oh right, the police who fired on an innocent civilian. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/10 "2013-07-26T20:34:39Z")
I see no one has commented on this statement: “Police Chief Jeff Halstead said Wednesday that the two officers have returned to full-time duty, but he declined to comment further.” Around here law officers wouldn’t return to full-time duty until the investigation is completed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-go-to-wrong-address-kill-72-year-old-homeowner/664613/11 "2013-07-26T20:37:33Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > You know, I can’t even decide to assign blame to anyone. The cops went to the wrong house… ok, they don’t really deserve to be shot at because they walked up to the [wrong house.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori) The guy sees people skulking around with flashlights, he tries to defend his home. Both parties are amped up, stressed, and armed, someone is likely to wind up dead. Sorry, I think the burden falls on the police. They should know they might have the wrong house or the wrong person and what the results might be.