🔫 Police in New Mexico go to wrong address and fatally shoot homeowner

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/15/new-mexico-police-release-body-cam-showing-fatal-shooting-wrong-address-robert-dotson/11670184002/

Police released body camera footage and 911 audio on Friday of officers fatally shooting a homeowner after they responded to the wrong house for a domestic violence call. Farmington Police officers killed Robert Dotson, 52, when he answered the door with a handgun on April 5 at about 11:30 p.m., police initially said. The newly released videos show the unidentified officers immediately opening fire after Dotson opened the door with the gun. Officers opened fire again after a woman was heard in the video screaming. Police previously said the woman, Dotson's wife, returned fire to the officers. She was not injured. Their three children were upstairs, officers said in the footage. Farmington is a city of over 45,000 in the northwestern part of New Mexico, near the Colorado border.

Farmington police got a call for a domestic violence incident at 5308 Valley View Avenue. "Once on scene, officers mistakenly approached 5305 Valley View Avenue instead of 5308 Valley View Avenue," state police said in a statement. The video shows three responding officers approaching a house with an address clearly posted and illuminated and knocking three times on the door. They identified themselves as Farmington police three times, the video shows. While waiting for the door to be answered, officers asked a dispatcher to confirm the address and the dispatcher stated the number of a different home. "Why officers approached the wrong address remains part of the ongoing investigation," Farmington police said.

Within a few minutes, Dotson is shown coming to the door with a gun. "Hands up," an officer yells as they begin immediately firing at Dotson. The officers back up and tell dispatch a man is down in the doorway. A few moments later, a woman's voice inside the house is heard screaming. "Oh my god!" she yells. An officer tells her to put her hands up, but then begin firing at her.

An officer can be heard telling other officers who arrived on the scene that the woman picked up the weapon Dotson was holding and pointed it at officers. The woman can be heard shouting from inside the home minutes later, "Help! Somebody shot my husband. Please! Please! My kids are upstairs." Mr. Dotson’s wife fired from the doorway of the residence. "Once again, officer(s) fired. Once she realized that the individuals outside the residence were officers, she put the gun down and complied with the officer’s commands," state police said.

"All of us — the men and women of the Farmington Police Department — recognize the severity of this incident," Chief Steven Hebbe said in a statement.