Never, Never Call the Cops For "Help" Unless You're Willing to Risk Someone Being Shot and Killed
74-year-old North Carolina Man Shot and Killed by Cops as They Bust Through His Back Door on a "Welfare Check"
The police say that 74-year-old James Howard Allen had drawn a gun on him after they busted into his house near midnight on Saturday, so they had to shoot and kill him.
The grim lead-up details from Raw Story:
Gastonia police Chief Robert Helton explained at a press conference on Sunday that a family member had asked officers to check on James Howard Allen on Saturday afternoon, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Helton said that Allen's family had asked for the welfare check because the 74-year-old veteran had recently undergone surgery.
An officer first visited Allen's home at 10:20 p.m. on Saturday, but there was no answer.
Gastonia police then contacted the Gastonia Fire Department and Gaston Emergency Medical Services at 11:30 p.m. and a "decision was made to enter the house, concerned that he may be inside in need of emergency assistance," Helton said.
According to the chief, Gastonia police Officer Josh Lefevers announced himself before coming through the backdoor of the home, but Allen was pointing a gun at officers when they entered…
"(He) probably woke up, someone's breaking in on me, so when you're by yourself you try to protect yourself," Allen's brother-in-law, Robert Battle, told WSOC.
Otis Thompson, a friend of Allen's, said that his first reaction would have been to "grab a gun too."
"You kicked the man's door in," Thompson remarked. "He's disoriented and he's in his own house, privacy of his own home."…
Helton told reporters that the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation had been asked to investigate the shooting. The Gastonia Police Department followed its standard procedure for officer involved shootings and placed Lefevers on administrative leave.
Another such story of calling the cops on your relatives gone awry. The chances of things going awry, from misunderstanding or even, sometimes, from the citizen just maybe doing something they shouldn't do, but which wouldn't have been a problem had amped-up armed men vitally concerned with their own safety not been on the scene, is so high that it is rarely worth any imagined upside. If you think your relative needs a welfare check, ride over yourself.
