SWAT Team Honored For Raid On Wrong House

[Paul]

I-TEAM: SWAT Team Honored For Raid On Wrong House
Reporting
Caroline Lowe MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― On Monday, Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan handed out honors to a team of officers involved in a botched raid at an innocent family's home more than seven months ago. The family is upset and their attorney criticizes the awards and questions the timing.

Just days before Christmas, the sound of intruders breaking into their home in North Minneapolis prompted Vang Khang to grab his shotgun to protect his six children. His terrified wife called 911.

Khang fired several shots at the "intruders" who turned out to be members of the Minneapolis Police Department's SWAT team. The officers returned fire. Their protective gear prevented them from being harmed by the bullets.

No one was hurt in the shootout last Dec. 16 and the Minneapolis Police Chief ordered an internal investigation. The house was left riddled with bullet holes and broken glass. Two days later, Dolan apologized to the family and launched an internal investigation to find out how the SWAT team wound up in an innocent family's house in the middle of the night.

The investigation determined that the team had gone there looking for a gang member's guns after an informant gave investigators in the department's Violent Offenders Task Force bad information. The investigation is ongoing.

On Monday, Dolan recognized members of the SWAT team for their bravery and how they handled the raid. With Mayor R.T. Rybak and other city officials looking on, the chief handed out medals and commendations.

"The easy decision would have been to retreat under covering fire. The team did not take the easy way out," Dolan told the crowd. "This is a perfect example of a situation that could have gone horribly wrong, but did not because of the professionalism with which it was handled."

The Khang family was upset when they learned of the awards given to the SWAT team.

"They were outraged and they were hurt. They were hurt. To this day this family continues to suffer," said their attorney, former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger.

Heffelfinger said the family has notified the city that they plan to file a lawsuit over the botched raid. He questions the timing and motives for the award.

"Why now are we seeing the police department honoring these men? In this context, I'm convinced this is an effort on the part of the police leadership to sanitize the conduct of their officers on December 16," he said.

"The officers put themselves in harm's way. They were shot at and shot and deserved to be recognized," said Dolan in a statement defending the awards to the SWAT team.

Dolan said an internal investigation conducted by his staff cleared the conduct of the SWAT officers who raided the Khang home.

More than seven months later, the internal review has not finished looking into how the officers and supervisors in the Violent Offenders' Task Force handled the investigative piece of the case which preceded the raid at the Khang home. So far, no one has been disciplined in connection with the mistaken raid.

[Soundslikejosh]

The cops made a big mistake, no doubt. However, don't SWAT teams wear things that say "SWAT" all over them? Is that just Hollywood? I am a bit concerned that this homeowner started laying down lead before he even knew what the hell he was shooting at. This is how comandos end up shooting their own family. Granted, family members don't bust down the front door and come in like a herd of elephants, but I think you get my point. As much as I don't want to be gunned down in my own home, I feel a bit obligated to identify before I engage.

Thoughts?

[Pami]

If Mr. Khang or any of his family members had been physically hurt during the confrontation, do you think the SWAT team would still have been awarded medals?

I understand they were brave to have stood their ground while being fired upon (they probably expected it since they were searching for a gang member's guns), but they shouldn't have been at that location in the first place.

Mr. Khang should have verified who he was shooting at before he fired, but my guess is the SWAT team had their guns ready to shoot (ie, visible, not necessarily aimed), and he saw that before he was able to acknowledge they were police officers.

[indyjoe]

This happens far to often, due to the paramilitary enforcement with no knock warrants. Here is a post I made a while ago regarding this, with a map of all the cases around the country:

http://ingunowners.com/forums/carry_...html#post80376

Granted, family members don't bust down the front door and come in like a herd of elephants, but I think you get my point. As much as I don't want to be gunned down in my own home, I feel a bit obligated to identify before I engage.

I assume that if something unfortunate like this happened, I would probably be shot. The problem is that I have never and never plan to do anything that would require a felony style paramilitary entry to my home. If nothing is announced other than crashing windows, flash bangs, etc., I have to assume that I am being violently robbed. I will most likely come up shooting. And probably get shot. When the odds are many to 1, they are already armed and advancing, and I have done nothing wrong, I've got no advantages. I'm certainly not going to wait while the bad guys finish me off.

That is the problem with these type of raids, when a majority of the cases can be handled differently.

[BloodEclipse]

As much as I don't want to be gunned down in my own home, I feel a bit obligated to identify before I engage.

Thoughts?

Yeah I have a thought. Maybe it was dark and he heard them crashing into his house. Hard to see SWAT in the dark. If they come busting in its not to deliver flowers and rainbows.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by BloodEclipse

Yeah I have a thought. Maybe it was dark and he heard them crashing into his house. Hard to see SWAT in the dark. If they come busting in its not to deliver flowers and rainbows.

Yea, if somebody comes crashing into your house, its not a family member. I would be coming out with my ar15 and i would likely be killed. No knock warrants are never the answer. Wait till they leave the house, go to work, ect.

[jontheturboguy]

3am.
Door gets kicked in.
No time for question and answers.

[Annie]

Originally Posted by Soundslikejosh

However, don't SWAT teams wear things that say "SWAT" all over them?

Originally Posted by Paul

the sound of intruders breaking into their home ...
...an innocent family's house in the middle of the night.

Originally Posted by Paul

Yea, if somebody comes crashing into your house, its not a family member.

That ^

Originally Posted by jontheturboguy

3am.
Door gets kicked in.
No time for question and answers.

That ^

Originally Posted by BloodEclipse

it was dark and he heard them crashing into his house. ...
If they come busting in its not to deliver flowers and rainbows.

That ^

Originally Posted by indyjoe

If nothing is announced other than crashing windows, flash bangs, etc., I have to assume that I am being violently robbed.
...I'm certainly not going to wait while the bad guys finish me off.

That ^

[haldir]

It is also interesting that the SWAT team returned fire, shot up the whole house, yet never hit anyone (thank God in this case). I recall a comment that Col. Cooper made many years ago in an article I was reading. Some municipality had recently bought new sidearms with high capacity magazines. They were having a ceremony because one of their officers had been in a shootout and had all of that extra firepower. The Colonel commented that apparently no one noticed that she never hit anyone with all the extra firepower.

[indyjoe]

Originally Posted by haldir

It is also interesting that the SWAT team returned fire, shot up the whole house, yet never hit anyone (thank God in this case). I recall a comment that Col. Cooper made many years ago in an article I was reading. Some municipality had recently bought new sidearms with high capacity magazines. They were having a ceremony because one of their officers had been in a shootout and had all of that extra firepower. The Colonel commented that apparently no one noticed that she never hit anyone with all the extra firepower.

Very similar to the argument from the whole Appleseed movement to get more trained riflemen. Modern military doctrine is about fire on target, rather than shot on target. With the obvious exclusion of sniper teams or other REAL riflemen, a good shooter at 500 meters would do serious damage to spray and pray combat with a round that can't really maintain much power out to 500 meters.