CHESAPEAKE
A police SWAT team stormed a South Norfolk home Wednesday night, hoping to find a man wanted in the shooting death of a toddler almost three weeks ago.
But after surrounding the home for more than five hours, issuing multiple pleas for a wanted man’s surrender and eventually firing shots into the home, they went in to find it empty.
Chuck Thiebaud, a police spokesman, confirmed that police were seeking Shawn Sir Charles Ward, 21. He is wanted on charges of first-degree murder, three counts of using a gun in commission of a felony, two counts of attempted murder, breaking and entering and wearing a mask in public.
The charges stem from the Nov. 10 death of 1-year-Ny-Asia Tillmon.
Police have said three men entered an apartment in the 3700 block of Bainbridge Blvd. that afternoon. The child , her grandmother and her uncle were shot, and Ny-Asia died a short time later at a hospital.
Police identified Ward as a suspect shortly after the shooting. They are still looking for more information about the other two men, believed to be between 18 and 21.
At dusk Wednesday, police closed off a wide area around a home at the intersection of Shady and Stalham roads.
Scores of officers were on scene by dark, including heavily armed SWAT team members gathered at the front of the yellow, two-story home.
Three times, a police car pulled up in front and an officer used its loudspeakers to call on Ward by name to surrender. The plea was made more than a dozen times in each of the efforts.
At one point, SWAT officers fired blank shells in a loud warning to Ward that made some in the crowd of about 100 people watching from two blocks away jump and holler.
Later, police fired on a second-floor window.
A camera mounted on an extension pole then was used to give police a look through the window, its blinds having been blown apart by the earlier gunfire.
Officers went inside just after 9 p.m.
Their methodical search continued late into the night as they scoured the home and an attached garage, but Thiebaud said they had found no one.
Police continue to ask that anyone with information on Ward’s whereabouts or the identity of the other men involved in the shooting call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (562-5887).
Steve Stone, (757) 446-2309, steve.stone@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
What about the family's home?
I know they were looking for a criminal but was it really neccessary to destroy this family's home. You would think with no response for 5 hours that no one was home. I see everybody on the news except for the family whose home was destroyed. Does what they have to say not matter.
Three out of Four
What a bunch of idiots, your probably our of prison on parole.
More questions than answers
What, exactly, was the point of this report? Were you bragging that the Swat team successfully assaulted an empty house without injury, or that they wasted 5 hours before doing it? How about some answers to these questions: How many officers were involved and how much of Norfolk was not being patrolled during that 5 wasted hours? How much did this boondoggle cost the taxpayers? Who's house was it? Did they commit any crime to justify damaging their house in this way? Are they going to be reimbursed for damages? Who gave the police the bogus tip and why did they fall for it so easily? Can I have someone's house assaulted just by calling the police and giving them a tip? Are you a reporter or just a cheerleader for Police?
More often than not,
these Rambo wannabe's end up empty handed. Even the glorified SWAT programs on TV show them planning meticulous raids, totally destroying a house, and finding .... little or nothing. There seems to be a certain amount of overkill in these operations. Ever since cities received millions of anti-terrorist $ after the 9-11 events, they have felt the need to equip themselves with all this fire power and then are felt compelled to put it to use for what seems to be relatively minor situations. I appreciate the intentions and feel somewhat assured that some resources like this are available if truly needed, but it just seems they have been over-equipped and utilized unnecessarily.
police target chesapeake home for suspect in toddlers death
As a witness who was at the scene, the Police were not shooting bullets into the house, they were firing tear gas to flush the scum bag out of the house. This is not the 1960's nor is it Portsmouth. Police would not fire into the home unless they were fired upon.
Why Fire at All?
I don't understand why the police fired into the 2nd floor window of the dwelling if no one was home or the police were not receiving fire from that dwelling? Is the SWAT team that trigger-happy that they must fire at everything? What of the danger to innocents who might have been in the house?