SOUTHAVEN, MS (WMC) Documents show Mississippi police officers went to the wrong house to serve a warrant on Monday, which resulted in the shooting death of a man who did not have any active warrants out for his arrest.
A warrant out of Tate County shows Samuel Pearman was wanted for domestic assault. But, when Southaven officers arrived on Surrey Lane to arrest Pearman, they did not show up to the correct house.
Instead, officers missed their target by 36 feet. Those 36 feet made all the difference to Ismael Lopez and his wife.
“Someone didn’t take the time to analyze the address,” attorney Murray Wells, who represents the family, said. “This is incredibly tragic and embarrassing to this police department that they can’t read house numbers.”
Wells pointed out that the house officers should have gone to, the one where Pearman was located, had a large ‘P’ on the door. While officials sort out what happened, the man they were looking for took to social media.
Pearson even posted on Facebook Live on Tuesday afternoon claiming he didn’t do anything wrong.
“They made me out to be something I’m not,” he said. “I haven’t hurt her. She’s the one who slapped me.”
Ismael Lopez and his wife, Claudia Linares, were asleep inside their house across the street from Pearson when officers arrived.
Linares said her husband went to the door to see what was happening outside. That’s when she heard gunshots and by the time she reached her husband, he was already dead.
“Bullet holes suggest they shot through the door,” Wells said.
Officers said Lopez came to the door pointing a gun at them. Those officers claim to have asked Lopez multiple times to drop the gun before they started shooting.