Albuquerque SWAT Raid Turns Deadly, Only Innocent People Perished
BY Herschel Smith
2 years, 4 months ago
Via Radley Balko, news from NM.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An overnight SWAT standoff with a suspect ended with a house fire in southeast Albuquerque. Police have confirmed that a 14-year-old boy was found dead inside the home after the fire was put out.
Police said the suspect, Qiaunt Kelley, was wanted on a federal felony warrant for robbery. Police said they tracked the suspect to the home on the 8100 block of San Joaquin Avenue SE at around 10 p.m. Wednesday, but the suspect and the teenage boy hid in the home.
Several hours later, at around 3 a.m., police saw smoke emerging from the windows. Firefighters were eventually able to put the fire out, but officials said the front half of the house was engulfed in flames.
The suspect reportedly exited the home as Albuquerque Fire Rescue was extinguishing the fire. He was taken into custody and then transported to a local hospital for burn injuries.
The 14-year-old boy, however, was found dead by fire crews and police officers. No official cause of death has been determined at this time.
Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina said in addition to the felony arrest warrant, the suspect was a person of interest in several violent crimes in Albuquerque.
[ … ]
KOB 4 spoke with a woman whose sister and her family lived there. She said the people involved in the SWAT standoff weren’t related to her family and did not live there, but were acquaintances of her nephew who stopped by to pick up a bike. Now, she’s questioning how police and the SWAT team handled the situation.
The family is also blaming police for starting the fire, claiming flash bang grenades ignited it.
Police confirmed that multiple “munitions” were used at the scene – they’re used in SWAT situations to get suspects to surrender. They are working with AFR to determine if one caused the fire.
Good old fashioned police work – staking out, investigation, interviews, questioning suspects, arrest warrants signed by competent judges – is out the window.
Just call SWAT and throw grenades. It’s how business is done these days.
On July 11, 2022 at 8:18 am, J said:
Irony, now coproaches are smoking people out of the house!
On July 11, 2022 at 8:55 am, George 1 said:
The police now consider themselves an occupying force and all others the enemy. I read an article about a SWAT officer about six months ago. One of his quotes:
“I am a door kicker not a Constitutional Lawyer.”
I take that to mean he mostly does whatever he wants and allows the lawyers and judges to legalize it if he caught doing something he shouldn’t.
On July 11, 2022 at 10:55 am, Fred said:
The Waco Branch Davidians we’re unavailable for comment.
On July 11, 2022 at 1:07 pm, Okanogan Offgrid said:
History books tell of a time when a bunch of men were sentenced to death by hanging after using the “I was doing my job and following orders” defense.
Enforcers today need to pay more attention to history.
On July 11, 2022 at 7:33 pm, 21stCenturyCassandra said:
This is awful. I live in Albuquerque. It’s already know as the auto theft and late term abortion capital of the US. It is turning into the ChiCongo of the Southwest, with Mexican drug cartels taking the place of the North American Feral Road Ape gangs.
On July 11, 2022 at 9:09 pm, George 1 said:
@21stCenturyCassandra
Get out of there if you can.