Police Kill Man While Serving Arrest Warrant at Wrong House

Ismael Lopez had no criminal history and wasn't wanted for anything
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 26, 2017 6:59 PM CDT
Police Kill Man While Serving Arrest Warrant at Wrong House
Ismael Lopez was shot and killed Sunday in Mississippi while police officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant at the wrong house.   (Twitter)

A Mississippi police officer fatally shot 41-year-old Ismael Lopez late Sunday night while attempting to serve an arrest warrant. A lawyer for the Lopez family says police had the wrong house, NBC News reports. According to the Washington Post, Lopez was in bed when he heard a sound outside his home in Southaven. He got up to see what was going on; moments later he was dead. Prosecutor John Champion tells the Commercial Appeal that Lopez was pointing a gun at the two police officers outside his house through a partially open door and ignored orders to put the gun down. Champion says it appears one officer shot at a pit bull that ran out of Lopez's home and the other shot at Lopez himself. There were three bullet holes in Lopez's door.

It's unclear if Lopez fired any shots or if he knew the people at his front door were police officers. Attorney Murray Wells says neither Lopez's wife nor a neighbor heard the officers tell Lopez to drop the gun. In fact, he says Lopez, who has no criminal history and was not wanted for anything, wasn't even holding a gun during the shooting. Wells says there was a gun on the couch at the time. He says police were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for Samuel Pearman, who lives next door. Wells says the two homes are 36 feet apart and both have their addresses clearly visible. Pearman was wanted on a domestic abuse charge. An investigation into the shooting is underway. (More police shooting stories.)

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