Global Courant 2023-04-16 17:22:32
Robert Dotson, 52, was killed by police on April 5 in New Mexico after officers responding to a report of domestic violence arrived at the wrong home.
New Mexico police officers realized they were at the wrong address just before the front door opened and they fatally shot the armed homeowner and then exchanged gunfire with his wife, according to recently released body camera video of the April 5 shooting.
Robert Dotson, 52, was killed in Farmington, a town of 47,000 in the southwestern US state, after officers went to the wrong house on their way to a domestic violence call.
Farmington Police Department released several videos on Friday, including footage captured by body cameras worn by the three officers firing their guns.
“All of us – the men and women of the Farmington Police Department – recognize the seriousness of this incident,” Police Chief Steven Hebbe said in a statement.
“Once again we would like to express our condolences to the Dotson family, and as your chief of police, I want to convey my deep regret that this tragedy has happened,” Hebbe said.
A lawyer representing the Dotson family could not be reached for comment.
The video shows an officer knocking three times on a door decorated with an Easter bunny and announcing that the police are present. While they wait, two officers discuss whether they have the correct address and chuckle when they realize a mistake has been made.
An officer then curses and backs away, seconds before the door opens. A cop yells, “Hands up!” and the video shows Dotson raising what appears to be a gun before officers open fire and hit him as he stands in the doorway.
Dotson’s wife can soon be heard screaming, “Oh, my God!” An officer mumbles, “Please don’t,” before another volley of shots takes place. According to authorities, she fired at the officers, who returned fire without hitting her.
Dotson’s wife, who did not realize she was shooting at police, has not been charged, authorities said. According to the released video, three children were upstairs at the time of the shooting.
Police have not released the names of the officers involved, who have been placed on paid leave while state police investigate the incident.
The Dotson family and their lawyer watched the video before it was made public, Hebbe said.
According to the Pew Research Center, about 40 percent of American households own guns. An estimated 44,000 gun-related deaths took place in the United States last year, about half of which were homicides, accidents and self-defense, and half suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive database.
It found that 14 people were shot or killed this year in New Mexico in what the archive calls “incidents involving officers.”
According to the archive, more than 5,000 people in the US will have died from gun-related violence by 2023.
