Stockbridge, GA – In a travesty of justice, a Henry County grand jury decided that a cop who went to the wrong house responding to a 911 call and killed the homeowner, an innocent father of three, will not be charged. According to CBS 46:
A grand jury review determined that Sergeant Patrick Snook will not face charged and found the shooting to be justified.
William David Powell was shot by officers who thought they were responding to a home on the 600 block of Swan Lake Road in Stockbridge where shots had been fired. The incident happened during the early morning hours of June 9.
Responding to a 911 call in June, Henry County police arrived at the wrong house and shot the innocent homeowner in the neck. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating the incident due to the fact that the Henry County police shot a man who had committed no crime and who had no involvement with the initial 911 call.
According to the GBI, a 911 dispatcher received a call reporting gunshots and a woman screaming for help at 11:54 p.m. Unable to obtain an exact address, the 911 operator dispatched three Henry County cops who arrived at the wrong house around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Hearing his dogs barking around 1:30 a.m., Powell, 63, grabbed his gun and went outside to check their safety. According to his mother-in-law, Geraldine Huey, 85, Powell had gone outside to investigate a possible intruder.
“He went to see what the dogs were carrying on about,” recalled Huey, who lives next door. “He (picked) up his gun and when he got to the gate, they shot him.”
Although officers told GBI investigators that Powell refused to drop his gun, neighbors assert that the cops failed to identify themselves before suddenly shooting Powell in the neck. Shot in his driveway, Powell was taken to Atlanta Medical Center where he would die.
After eventually locating the correct house, Henry County police discovered that no shots had been fired and no one inside the residence confirmed accusations of a woman screaming.
“There was an argument there, however, they indicated that there was no screaming for help or shots fired,” GBI spokesman Scott Dutton told WGCL.
According to the GBI, Henry County PD arrived at the wrong house and shot a man who had nothing to do with the initial 911 call. An Air Force veteran and father of three, Powell had no reason to interact with police according to GBI investigators.
“He worked all his life. Went to school,” Huey described her wounded son-in-law back in June. “Just somebody you’d really like to know. He’s right here for me any time.”
“The officers were at the wrong location,” Dutton admitted. “Something got lost in communication.”
In May, Henry County police SWAT officers killed a man who had attempted to shoot his father earlier that evening. His father had fled the house unharmed before the militarized cops killed his son.
Dispatched to the wrong house on a burglary call less than a year ago, a DeKalb County officer shot a homeowner and a fellow officer. A dog was also killed in the needless shooting.
Once again, police in America prove they can negligently kill innocent people and face no consequences.
