After the immediate action center received a call on April 5 about a domestic violence incident, officers rushed into the night and knocked on the door of a home in Farmington, New Mexico (south), before killing the property owner who went to answer with a gun, seconds after realizing they were across the street from where they needed to intervene, the authorities recognized and certified video from their body cameras, which were released to the public.

While the call was to the house at 5308 Valley View Avenue, the patrol of three officers repeatedly knocked on the door of the residence at 5305, it was decorated with an Easter bunny, shouting “police!”.

According to body cameras released yesterday by state authorities, Robert Dotson, 52, the home’s owner, finally went to open them – pistol in hand. They shouted at him to drop the gun and throw up his hands; then they shot him.

The man expired a short time later.

Then his wife, also armed with a handgun, screamed “oh my god” and opened fire on them – they returned fire, before the woman realized they were police and put the gun down, unharming her or her law enforcement officers. class.

Police said they were unable to explain why their members went to the wrong house, despite repeated communications with the centre. Based on the footage from the body cameras they were wearing, they realized they were not where they were supposed to be moments before the door opened.

The names of the officers have not been released.

The head of the local police, Steve Heby, emphasized that the service is aware of the “gravity” of the incident. “As the chief of police, I want to say that I am devastated” for the “incredibly tragic outcome of this case”, he said, expressing his “condolences” to the family of the deceased.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 40% of American households own a gun or guns.

Last year, there were about 44,000 gun-related deaths in the US; half were murders, accidents or cases of self-defense, the other half suicides, according to numbers from the specialist website Gun Violence Archive.