Officers Kill Unarmed Man Who Demanded Warrant: Report

John Livingston was a 33-year-old father of three
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2015 7:00 PM CST
Updated Nov 16, 2015 7:30 PM CST
Officers Kill Unarmed Man Who Demanded Warrant: Report
John Livingston and family members.   (YouTube)

John Livingston was at home early Sunday in North Carolina when two deputies arrived looking for someone else—and a few minutes later Livingston was dead. What happened is the subject of a state investigation, but witnesses say the 33-year-old father of three was Maced or pepper sprayed, Tased, dragged outside, and shot several times by the deputies. "They shot the wrong guy for the wrong thing," a neighbor tells the Fayetteville Observer. "Wrong guy. Wrong house. Wrong everything." According to Livingston's roommate, Clayton Carroll, the deputies showed up at around 3:30am looking for a guy who didn't live there anymore, WNCN reports. Livingston shut the door and told them they needed a search warrant—which is when "the cop kicked in the door, got on top of him, started slinging him around [and] beat him," Carroll says.

According to Carroll, Livingston struggled with a deputy's Taser, and when the fight continued outside Livingston was riddled with six bullets. One deputy was lightly injured, WRAL reports. The killing occurred in a pretty bleak area of Cumberland County that has roads with potholes and mobile homes that are abandoned, burnt, or gutted. Authorities aren't commenting, but both officers were placed on administrative leave and one was named: Nicholas Kehagias (usually the shooting officer's name is released, the Observer notes). As for Livingston, he "was the greatest father you could imagine," says Jessika Cardwell, the mother of his children. "So kind-hearted. All the kids around here loved him. John had the best personality. Where he went, he would light up the party." (Read about a crime scene photographer who made a shocking discovery.)

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