First story on Lubbock debacle.

 Surrender deal botched
 Phone call to negotiator unanswered
 By LINDA KANE
 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
 August 2, 2001

    Richard Robinson said Wednesday that he already had agreed with a negotiator to come out of his South Lubbock home when gunfire erupted and an officer was fatally shot July 13.
    Robinson said the negotiator told him to take his time and to call the negotiator’s cell phone when Robinson was ready to leave his home. When Robinson made the call, however, nobody answered, he said.
    Robinson’s attorney, Daniel W. Hurley, said Wednesday he had spoken with the negotiator July 13, and they had agreed Robinson would be taken to a hospital for psychological treatment and not to jail.
    After he made the unsuccessful call to the negotiator, Robinson went and sat on his couch, he said.  Hurley said he didn’t know why the phone call reportedly didn’t go through. The negotiator called again, but gunfire erupted as Robinson walked from his living room to the kitchen to answer the phone, Robinson said.
    “The phone started ringing and then windows started breaking, and I just jumped up and said, ‘What’s going on?’ and that’s when they just started shooting,” he said.  Robinson was shot in the back as he walked from the living room to the kitchen, he said.  He said officers were yelling and asked what he had in his hand.  “I said, ‘the (expletive removed) phone’,” Robinson said.
     The incident began about five hours earlier, following a fight between Robinson, 47, and his wife, Laura, 48.  The Fire Department arrived after Robinson began burning his furniture in his front yard, and then the SWAT team was called in. Laura Robinson and the couple’s children were not in the home when the SWAT team arrived.
     Richard Robinson and Hurley contend that no one asked Robinson to leave his house.  “Nobody ever came to the door to ask him to come out,” Hurley said. “When the SWAT team arrived at around noon, Dick could see that it was a serious deal.”
     Sgt. Kevin Cox, 38, was shot in the head during the SWAT maneuver at Robinson’s home at 3229 87th St.
     In police reports filed with court papers, SWAT officers said they believed Robinson opened fire from inside the house.
     According to a search warrant, police seized 13 guns, ammunition and books about weapons. All the guns were unloaded and in a closet during the episode, Robinson said.
    Police initially charged Robinson with capital murder in the officer’s death, but determined a week later that he didn’t shoot  Cox. The charges were dropped.  * * *
    Their house is in shambles, and many personal items are riddled with bullet holes, the Robinsons said. Gunfire damaged the walls, clothing, mattresses and furniture, they said.  Perhaps more than 100 rounds exploded during two to three minutes after SWAT officers approached Robinson’s home and broke out windows on the east and west sides. The tactic, known as a break and rake, was used to improve visibility  into the house and make an entry point for tear gas. * * *
    The Robinsons likely will sell their house, they said. Their youngest daughter is scared to return to her bedroom, they said.  * * *

btt

What a tragedy, there is to much SWAT work being done these days when good old common sense police work would get the job done. Way overkill for this type of call.

Are these "Tactics" similiar to "Carpet Bombing"