Post by WaTcHeR on Dec 8, 2006 12:17:24 GMT -5
12.08.2006 - ATLANTA - The police drug raid that ended in the shooting death of an elderly woman began with the arrest of a man earlier in the day for selling marijuana about five blocks away.
Fabian Sheats, who had already been arrested for drugs twice in the last four months, told officers about a house where they could find a kilogram of cocaine.
It was that tip that led police to the home of Kathryn Johnston on Nov. 21, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited a police report released Thursday.
Sheats, 23, was arrested around 4 p.m. that day for selling marijuana.
According to a report, written by Atlanta police investigator Arthur Tesler, Sheats "wanted to take us to a house that had a kilo of cocaine. Sheats directed us to 933 Neal Street N.W. where a buy of crack cocaine was later made and a search warrant drawn up for that location."
Sheats said he had been in the home around 3 p.m. and saw the cocaine being broken up in a shoe box, the report said.
Police say they then sent a confidential informant to Johnston's home, where he bought drugs. Tesler is one of two officers who obtained a "no-knock" search warrant for Johnston's house. The officers obtained the warrant, which allows officers to kick the door in unannounced, around 6 p.m. the same day - two hours after Sheats' arrest.
An hour later, just before 7 p.m., a police team raided Johnston's home. Family members say Johnson was 92 years old; authorities claim she was 88.
But when officers came through the door, police said, Johnston opened fire, wounding three officers. The officers returned fire, killing her.
The informant has since denied buying drugs at Johnston's home and said he was told by police to lie about the incident.
No cocaine was found in Johnston's home. A listing of the items found at Johnston's home included a small amount of marijuana.
But Johnston's family is "denying on every level that any marijuana or any drugs of any kind were in that house," said Markel Hutchins, an activist who has become a spokesman for the family.
www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/16192449.htm
Fabian Sheats, who had already been arrested for drugs twice in the last four months, told officers about a house where they could find a kilogram of cocaine.
It was that tip that led police to the home of Kathryn Johnston on Nov. 21, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited a police report released Thursday.
Sheats, 23, was arrested around 4 p.m. that day for selling marijuana.
According to a report, written by Atlanta police investigator Arthur Tesler, Sheats "wanted to take us to a house that had a kilo of cocaine. Sheats directed us to 933 Neal Street N.W. where a buy of crack cocaine was later made and a search warrant drawn up for that location."
Sheats said he had been in the home around 3 p.m. and saw the cocaine being broken up in a shoe box, the report said.
Police say they then sent a confidential informant to Johnston's home, where he bought drugs. Tesler is one of two officers who obtained a "no-knock" search warrant for Johnston's house. The officers obtained the warrant, which allows officers to kick the door in unannounced, around 6 p.m. the same day - two hours after Sheats' arrest.
An hour later, just before 7 p.m., a police team raided Johnston's home. Family members say Johnson was 92 years old; authorities claim she was 88.
But when officers came through the door, police said, Johnston opened fire, wounding three officers. The officers returned fire, killing her.
The informant has since denied buying drugs at Johnston's home and said he was told by police to lie about the incident.
No cocaine was found in Johnston's home. A listing of the items found at Johnston's home included a small amount of marijuana.
But Johnston's family is "denying on every level that any marijuana or any drugs of any kind were in that house," said Markel Hutchins, an activist who has become a spokesman for the family.
www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/16192449.htm