What I fear

Almost above all else, is a situation such as this

Portlock residents who saw a deadly police shooting unfold on their “quiet street” are finding it difficult to return to normalcy. The man accused of killing Detective Jarrod Shivers said he had no idea the man he shot was a police officer until it was too late.

Redstart Avenue, a street that dead-ends at a church, still was reeling Friday after a police officer was fatally shot there the night before. The residents say they are in disbelief after realizing that a 28-year-old neighbor is a suspect.

Shivers, a 34-year-old father, was shot as was trying to enter at the house in the street’s 900 block around 8:30 p.m. He and several other officers were there with a search warrant as part of a drug investigation, police said.

Shivers was pronounced dead at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. He left behind a wife and three children – ages 2, 8 and 14.

After the shooting, detectives on scene retreated for their safety. The home, which sits in the middle of the block, remained surrounded until the SWAT team arrived and entered.

Police arrested 28-year-old Ryan David Frederick, who lived at the home, and charged him with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held in the Chesapeake City Jail.

Frederick said in a jailhouse interview Friday he had no idea a police officer was on the other side of the door when he opened fire.
Frederick said he was in bed when he heard someone trying to come into the home.

“I thought it was the person who had broken into my house the other day,” he said.

Frederick said his home had been burglarized two or three days earlier.

Frederick’s family could not be reached for comment, and he declined to speak to The Virginian-Pilot.

Police did not say whom they were investigating when they executed the search warrant. Other than a few misdemeanor traffic violations, Frederick has not been convicted of any felony crimes in Chesapeake, according to online court records.

Chesapeake police spokeswoman Christi Golden said she could not comment on specifics of the incident, including whether the officers who tried to serve the narcotics warrant were in uniform.

“They are undercover detectives,” Golden said. As such, they would typically be in street clothes. But, when serving warrants, even undercover officers “usually have something that says ‘police,’” she said. “They are identified in some way, shape or form.”

In the dark, with lots of yelling, a half a dozen guys bust through my door and point firearms at me.

They all die because I sleep with my MBR and they’ve got sub-guns. Walls, doors and vests have no relative stopping ability with 147gr FMJ projectiles. I probably die as well, and with the shooting skill of the average badge-ninja, my dogs and the wife are probably in serious jeopardy too.

But it is their fault and not mine.

Notice how the police department doesn’t mention that it was most likely the wrong house or a bad tip that set the wheels of this in motion. If you go to the link, you’ll also notice that everyone is commenting on and worrying about the officer’s family, not the family who had their door knocked down, their house invaded and their husband/father arrested for first degree murder and put in jail until the offending police agency “sorts it all out”.

One of the reasons I work nights is that if this thing happens, I’ll either be gone or it’ll be daylight. But even the latter factor probably wouldn’t do me a heck of a lot of good.

No-knock warrants need to stop.

Found at The Agitator via Insty