Authorities in New Mexico will not seek charges against three police officers involved in a fatal shooting after arriving at the wrong house last year.
Officers in the town of Farmington fired dozens of shots and killed Robert Dotson, 52, because he appeared at the door of his home holding a gun.
At the time, the officers were responding to a domestic violence call from a house across the street.
The Dotson family filed a lawsuit against the department last year.
According to a complaint filed by the family in court, police arrived at the Dotson residence late on 5 April, 2023 and "parked down the street and did not have their lights on".
When Mr Dotson opened his front door holding a weapon, police immediately opened fire, striking him 12 times. Another 19 shots were fired at his wife Kimberly, who was unharmed during the incident. Police later said she opened fire on officers with a pistol.
In my experience, cops don't always identify themselves during the knock. They just slam on your door extremely aggressively, and may respond that they're cops if you yell through the door. Nor is there reason to believe them even if they do identify themselves verbally.
I hate guns, and don't own one. But I would not blame someone for bringing a gun with them after one of those knocks in the middle of the night. Who knows who it could be.