A 77-year-old Foley, Alabama man was shot and killed during a pre-dawn raid by police officers with a search warrant for marijuana. Robert Woods had emerged from a rear bedroom holding a gun and fired once, wounding one police officer. Four other officers returned fire, killing the homeowner.
Arrested in the raid was Woods' son, Michael Woods, 51, who had been the raid's target. Woods had told an undercover investigator he had a large quantity of marijuana, resulting in the search warrant served during the fatal raid. It is not clear how much marijuana was seized. Michael Woods shared the home with his parents.
In the police version of events, officers knocked on the door, then announced they were entering the house, then entered the house yelling "Police! Search warrant!" Then they detained Michael Woods and his mother before a man came out of the bedroom holding a handgun. Officers shouted for Woods to drop the gun, but he fired, striking Officer Randy Stillworth. The other officers then fired back, killing Woods. That version of events has not been corroborated by witnesses.
In the comment section of the article linked to above, a person who identifies herself as Wood's granddaughter had this to say: "He and my grandmother survived being robbed at gunpoint in their home in McCalla, Alabama. He also survived a horrible accident when the golf cart he was driving, working as a security guard, lost control and went up under an eighteen wheeler. He had to have brain surgery to remove a tumor due to that accident. Now, let me set the scene for y'all. For one, he didn't have his hearing aids in. Secondly, he didn't have his glasses on. Thirdly, what the hell would y'all do if you give his history, if all of sudden you where woken by a loud boom?!?!?!? You would grab the nearest object that you have by your bed. And seeing that we all live in Alabama, you either have a baseball bat or a gun. So, he grabs his gun and goes running towards the sound of the boom, all he sees is a figure moving in his home!!! Now, Mike sold to an undercover the night before in the driveway and says he has a large supply in the house. People, it was 4 small bags of pot. My paw-paw lost his life for 4 small bags of pot."
Foley Police have called in the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, as is standard with police shootings. They will be assisted by the Baldwin County District Attorney's Office and the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, he said. Meanwhile, the officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave.
I am sorry about your paw paw I hope the best during your hard times and pray for the drug war to end so this will stop. the police at war with its on people. it has to stop now.
While the raids do anger me, I feel like this article is a bit sensationalist - by the title, I was expecting the DEA to bust down a helpless old man's door, inducing heart failure, or mis-handled him to the point it cause some sort of fatal accident.... However, not only did the man emerge with a gun, but he fired first. Kind of an unfair/misleading title, IMO, implying that the raid killed the man, not his own actions. I mean... don't shoot at the goddamn police. It's a bad idea.
That being said, I totally agree that the root problem is marijuana being illegal in the first place.
Edit: My first paragraph was written ONLY on the assumption that the police indeed are telling the truth about the matter/ that the man was unruly and fired first. If this is not the case, which is a possibility, this article simply horrifies and disgusts me.
19-05-2009, 13:18
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