AWFUL

Cops Go to Wrong Address and Fatally Shoot Homeowner

The man “was not the subject of the call that our officers were responding to and this ending is just unbelievably tragic,” the police chief said.

Police officers in the city of Farmington, New Mexico, went to the wrong house while responding to an emergency call and shot and killed a homeowner there, according to a New Mexico State Police spokesperson. Officers fatally shot 52-year-old Robert Dotson when he opened the door for police while holding a gun, spokesperson Ray Wilson said. Dotson’s wife subsequently opened fire at the officers, who shot back but missed. Dotson’s wife complied with officers’ orders as soon as she realized they were police, according to Wilson. The three officers involved have been put on administrative leave. “What I will tell you, as the chief, is this is an extremely traumatic event and that I am just heartbroken by the circumstances surrounding this,” Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe said Thursday evening. “Mr. Dotson was not the subject of the call that our officers were responding to and this ending is just unbelievably tragic. I am extremely sorry that we are in this position.”