Police Serve Warrant And Kill Man, Only It Was The Wrong House

Posted On : 07/26/2017

Police arrived at the wrong house to serve an arrest warrant. To add to the downfall of police credibility, they shot an innocent man dead in his own home.

SOUTHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI — Ismael Lopez, 41, was fatally shot by police late Sunday night after he checked his front door.

Police’s side of the story…

According to UPI, officers were supposed to be across the street to serve an arrest warrant for Samuel Pearman. Pearman was wanted on an assault charge, says the source.

Murray Wells, an attorney representing the victim’s family, mentions as follows.

“Someone didn’t take the time to analyze the address. This is incredibly tragic and embarrassing to this police department that they can’t read house numbers.”

According to UPI, once Lopez opened his front door, his pit bull charged at officers. At the same time, Lopez was also holding a gun. Unfortunately, officers fired on both.

Even though Lopez wasn’t a wanted man, DeSoto County Prosecutor John Champion mentions as follows.

“At this point, the officers began hollering ‘put the gun down, put the gun down,’ at which point that did not occur and there were more than one shot was fired toward the door and there was a male subject inside the residence that was killed.”

However, there’s always three sides to a story…

Lopez’s wife says the cops’ version of the story is false.

According to Jordan Castillo, who’s speaking on the family’s behalf, police started firing through Lopez’s front door while it was closed. Likewise, the source says the man never picked up a gun.

Instead, Castillo says police found Lopez’s gun in the living room. He states as follows.

“She [Lopez’s wife] said when he got up, she heard the footsteps all the way up to the door, she heard the doorknob turn, and then after the doorknob turned it was just gunshots from there.”

According to the family’s attorney, bullet holes corroborate the wife’s story. There were several holes in the door.

The attorney notes that Lopez was a resident of the neighborhood for the past 13 years and never caused a problem. He also says the only time police were at their house was when the residence was robbed.

The source says the officer who killed Lopez has been placed on leave. There’s currently an investigation underway.

As aforementioned, there’s always three sides to a story: their side, his side, and the truth.

I wonder if they were parked facing the house so the dashcam could get a view.

We might just see justice in this case (sarcasm).

What are your thoughts? Feel free to share your comments via our Facebook page.

[Featured Photo via Twitter]

Share It!

X
Let Your Friends Know!