STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia homeowner shot in the neck after police went to the wrong house has died, a lawyer for the family said Friday.
William Powell, 63, died Thursday afternoon at Atlanta Medical Center, Jonesboro attorney Keith Martin said.
A preliminary review of the 911 call indicates the three officers who responded had gone to the wrong home and showed up at Powell’s house, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. Powell was armed with a gun and was shot in the neck by one of the officers, authorities said.
The GBI is investigating the actions of Henry County police in the shooting early Wednesday morning in Stockbridge, about 20 miles south of Atlanta.
“We have been notified that special agents of the GBI wish to speak to Mrs. Powell and, when she is available, we will meet with the investigators and cooperate in every way,” Martin said Friday in an email to The Associated Press.
Someone had called 911 a little before midnight Tuesday to report hearing a woman yelling for help and gunshots, prompting the police response, the GBI has said. Authorities have not released the 911 call.
The officers “gave verbal commands for Powell to drop his handgun which he did not comply with,” GBI agent Scott Dutton said in a statement.
The officer who shot Powell is on paid leave, the standard protocol in such cases, Henry County police Capt. Joey Smith said.
It wasn’t known Friday whether the officers were wearing body cameras or whether any other video captured part of what transpired. Smith referred questions about the case to the GBI.
“The Powell family is most thankful for the wishes and prayers of neighbors, friends and the community and ask that the prayers continue through this difficult time,” Martin said.
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What kind of fool holds onto a gun and refuses to surrender with his hands up when confronted by police? Darwin award.
Sorry for this family’s loss, and sorry for the mistakes police sometimes make in going to the wrong place to arrest a suspect.
But when police order you to put down your gun and put your hands up, it’s not that hard to understand what is meant by that in the English language. And almost always, it allows you to breathe another breath.
I don’t know everything about what happened, obviously. But I know one thing: If he hadn’t been standing there with a pistol in his hand, he’d have more likely survived the incident. So score another victim of the deluded and paranoid notion that “guns keep you safe.” They certainly didn’t this time.
The kind of person who listens to Michelle Fiore.
The kind of person who has the romantic notion the NRA perpetuates that he’s the hero in his own personal action film…and he, single-handedly will defend the Constitution from the “sheep”.
Easy for you to say.
Have you ever had anyone break down your door in the middle of the night and rush in pointing guns at you and screaming for you to drop YOUR gun? You have 1 second to comply or you are dead.
Not much time to figure out what is happening is it?
His gun most assuredly did NOT keep him safe.
A very accurate response. Sometimes, I’d like the police to show up at Michelle Fiore’s house. Let’s see what happens.