CHESAPEAKE
Officers were wearing body armor and helmets marked “POLICE” when they climbed the three brick steps at 932 Redstart Ave. last week to serve a narcotics warrant, a department spokeswoman says.
According to Christi Golden, officers did a “knock and announce” – in which they approach the door and declare their presence before entering.
Shots were fired from inside the house and police narcotics Detective Jarrod Shivers was hit, Golden said. On Wednesday, the medical examiner’s office said Shivers died from a single gunshot wound to his arm and chest.
A confidential informant told Chesapeake police that Ryan David Frederick was growing marijuana in a detached garage beside the house he lived in, according to court documents.
The documents, made available Wednesday, said police did find marijuana and drug paraphernalia there.
Frederick, 28 , was arrested in Shivers’ death and was charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
He said in an jail interview with a local television station that he had no idea a police officer was on the other side of the door when he opened fire. Frederick has declined three requests to speak to The Virginian-Pilot.
After the shooting, a second search warrant was executed . Police seized a Bersa “Firestorm” .380-caliber handgun, three bullet casings and ammunition from the house, according to court documents. Police also took a broken door, a television set, a pry bar, a battering ram, a shoe and a flashlight.
In the neighborhood Wednesday, Frederick’s neighbors described him as quiet and unassuming.
Residents along Redstart Avenue remain stunned by Shivers’ death.
Neighbor Sandra Brooks, 31, said she is tormented by what she heard. The screams from anguished police officers were “worse than the sound of panic,” she said. They keep her up at night. She was in the front yard with her dog a few houses away when police descended on Frederick’s house. She stood on her porch watching and wondering what was happening.
“I think about them down there screaming and then about that officer’s family,” she said Wednesday.
“I don’t think he would have hurt a flea,” mail carrier Carlton Pugh Sr. said of Frederick as he stuffed mail into boxes along the street. “He’s a nice guy.”
Pugh said he has worked his route on Redstart for seven years and known Frederick for four.
“This kid down here, he was not selling drugs,” said Jon McReynolds, a neighbor two doors down who heard police enter Frederick’s home.
“I heard a bam,” but no warnings from police, McReynolds said. “There was no police sirens, nothing.” Standing on his porch Wednesday and pointing to the spot on the sidewalk where emergency crews tried to save Shivers, McReynolds said nothing adds up in his mind.
“It’s a tragedy; it’s two lives wasted, and for what?”
Detectives had gone to the house looking for marijuana, packaging materials and scales, according to an affidavit for a search warrant issued Jan. 15. Police verified that Frederick lived at the address through phone and DMV records, according to the affidavit.
A document filed Wednesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court shows that detectives found an undisclosed amount of marijuana, six lights, three transformers, smoking devices and a fan among other things at Frederick’s home.
Amy Couteé, (757) 222-5216, amy.coutee@pilotonline.com
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RE: BIG DILEMMA...
What I can't understand is how he can be charged with First Degree Murder. The last time I heard, that meant premeditated--meaning that he would have had to know the police were coming to raid his home and he laid in wait to ambush them. Voluntary Manslaughter, maybe, I can find acceptable but murder --ANY DEGREE-- NOT!
Of course, in the so-called "War on Drugs" they consistently bend the rules, distort the facts, and mis-interpret the law to achieve their perverted ends. So much for "Equal Protection Under the Law." That concept became extinct years ago.
By the way, I found my way here via
http://stopthedrugwar.org/
a site I recommend to all concerned citizens.
Suppose instead of shooting
Suppose instead of shooting he quickly crouched down low, aimed carefully toward the intruder and waited for him to enter so he could control him, tell him to lay on the floor and then call the police.
If that would have happened instead and the CPD entered to find a scared young man pointing a pistol directly at them. I wonder what the chances are that someone from the dept. would not have freaked out in the same manner. It's really a bad situation any way you look at it. People react without thinking when they are scared. I feel sorry for Officer Shivers and his family. I am sure he was just doing what he was told. There has got to be a better way to arrest small time offenders. In California they are writing prescriptions for pot. Here they are busting in your door in the middle of the night. Locals brag about their relatives running illegal moonshine as if it was a joke but condemn someone smoking pot. What a confusing world we live in.
Repeal Prohibtion
The so-called "War on Drugs" is a lost cause that will never, EVER, be "won." If you do the research, you will find that there was a spike in law-enforcement officers killed in the line of duty between 1920-1933. After alcohol prohibition was repealed, the body-count dropped as dramatically as it rose. Sure, body armor and improved tactics have kept police drug war casualties lower than back then but, still, it it REALLY worth losing ANY more lives to prevent people from getting SOMETHING THEY WANT and are GOING TO GET ANYWAY no matter how many growers and suppliers the government arrests?
Editor
Why are my comments being censored?
Home Invasion?
It is a shame that another officers life has been taking due to poor training and leadership. Bashing someones door in without annoucing POLICE DEPARMENT is wrong. What happened to property and self protection rights? Just because it was a department of the local government does that make it right to bash in someones door before announcing themselves. So we loose anothers officers life, for alittle bit of pot and some paraphernalia, the war on drugs was and still is a JOKE. Bust down my door with out announcing , Im shooting too.
Look at this kid!
What the heck does he weigh? Maybe a buck twenty. What the hell is he supposed to do? Wait until an intruder gets thru the front door with their own weapon before he shoots? I don't blame him for shooting. I don't blame him one bit. Not a single neighbor has been reported as saying the police announced their presence before trying to enter his home. I'm sure the kid was scared out of his mind. Wasn't it a confidential informant that led to the Chesapeake SWAT shooting the crap out of the poor lady's house just before Christmas time? Thank God no one was at home there. Those yahoos have proved how reckless they are by getting one of their own shot and killed.
Someone needs to organize a fund raiser for this kid so he gets a decent defense. God knows he won't get a fair trail in Chesapeake. I hope I get a jury notice if he does get tried here.
And just a note for all you "marijuana is bad because its illegal" have another martini, beer, or a glass of merlot. Bunch of hypocrites.
my heart goes out to... 3 of 3
Not trying to knock Shivers. I am sure he was just doing what he was told to do. But in the work force, in every kind of job there is...Unfortunately not everyone is honest and does what they are supposed to do. The riff raff needs to be eliminated in every respectable job.
my heart goes out to...2 of 3
didn't know the police had a bad tip from a lying rat. It is absolutely ridiculous that this case was handled in this kind of manner. If someone was breaking into my home, already knowing my home was tampered with a few days prior...I was woken up in the evening to someone tearing up my front door. Not having my phone at my hands reach, but having a weapon...My dogs barking with terror and concern...it is dark outside...The inside of home is dimly lit...a man in black crouching through the base of the door...Thinking this man must be a crook...Who else could it be? The last person I would have in mind would be a police officer. I would have hurt someone in this situation as well to protect my life, my home, my loved ones. Having a small stash of personal marijuana does not justify being treated this way. I am extremely dissapointed in Chesapeake! A new law should be put into place immediately...For all officers to wear GPS, sound activated as well as video activated devices on their uniform at all times while on duty, so there is never any question of how, what, where, and why things went down the way they did. This would also help with quality control of officers. Not try
My heart goes out to the
My heart goes out to the loved ones of both Ryan and his family as well as the officers' family. This incident should never have happened under the circumstances. The "confidential informant" should take the fall for all that has transpired. The city officials that set this "drug bust" should all be re-evaluated for their jobs. The city of Chesapeake really jumped the gun in this case without enough investigating on the situation. I only hope the city officials are wiser in the court room than they were during procedures that caused this mess. Seriously, why didn't the officials check into his property while he was away from home and at work during the day? Why did't they have adequate surveilance on the situation which would have eliminated probable cause? Chesapeake went about this so poorly. There isn't even enough available property value to grow a substantial enough amount of marijuana with the large swimming pool in the back for the type of action that police used. Ryan was a hard working man with a great job. He was a very productive member to our society and never wanted any trouble. The last people he expected to be breaking into his home were the police. Ryan
Sad but ridiculous
It is very sad what happened but I can see the other side of the story with the young man defending his home and not knowing it was the police. I can say if someone was kicking in my door in the middle of the night and I did not know who it was it would be shoot first ask questions later. With dogs barking and it being dark out it seems to me this could be a case of mistaken identity. But what has this world come to when the police can kick in your door in the middle of the night for smoking a little pot. That is crazy, you would think maybe during the day but for the safety of the police and people in the house you would think it would happen during the day.
Curiosity
If the police were wearing body armor why is the officer dead?
SADLY
This whole incident reeks to high heaven of things gone wrong. If that search warrant list all they found, this was a BAD bust. I truly believe this young man will be released and NO charges will be brought against him. I don't feel that it will be the correct decision but it will be the decision by the Judge. I feel the Police have a very, very weak case.
I'd do the same
If someone is breaking down my door unannounced, they are going to feel a shotgun blast of #2/#4 buckshot or a .357 hollow-point before there's a chance to shoot at me or my family. Based on what I've read here and in the warrant, the method used to "enforce the law" seemed pretty reckless for marijuana - that's all the original warrant said by the way, not explosive, not rocket launchers, not automatic weapons... just pot. Wouldn't it have been far easier to apprehend this person as he left the home or arrived back to the home??? This just has the feeling of cowboy cops doing some grandstanding.
I have read these posts for
I have read these posts for a couple of days now and I have felt so compelled to post a comment. I understand the aggrevation that some of you feel (on both sides) but why against each other? What we have is an unnecessary loss of life, and an unnecessary life that will waste away in jail. None of us was there that night-no one knows why the officer chose that moment and those circumstances to enter the house-no do we know why Ryan chose to pick up a gun. I know if I were robbed a few days prior though-I'd probably have one too-wouldnt you? These days dont most burglers carry guns? It sounds to me like 2 mistakes that happened in a matter of seconds that cant be made up for in a lifetime.
How will this kid ever get a fair trial? How will the officers family ever forget? I see post after post on here from "Chesapeake Police Officers" and "SWAT team wives" saying the most hateful things. "I hope you never need a cop". Really?
As sad as the loss of this
As sad as the loss of this fine officer is to him family and community, it is even more sad reading some of the so called 'experts' comments and their moronic perception on police officers doing their job under the guidelines of a judge and following the law. Having just a little bit of information, does not seem to deter any of these people from making their hurtful comments.
Be patient
I'm going to keep posting the same thing over and over. Stop taking sides and watch the facts unfold. We can both honor Det Shivers, the service of our police and respect the rights of the accused. We are fortunate that our legal system separates the gathering of evidence (the police) from the process of trying cases (judges and lawyers). As a military member, I understand what it's like losing a brother in arms. That said, I don't appreciate folks referring to Mr Frederick as a dopehead, idiot or any other derrogatory remark. Being civilized and respectful demands that we honor the sacrifices of our police as well as the VALUES they defend, which is the right to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The police are set apart for honor not only because of the risks they take to enforce our laws, but the restraint they show to enable our justice system to work. The system isn't perfect, but it beats any other I've seen around the world.
Two lives are lost.
I think it's sad that two lives were lost: the first, a good Cop trying to do his job, and the second, a scared and confused citizen, who panicked and pulled the trigger. No man in his right mind would fire a pistol at a group of Police Officers. My gut feel is that he probably thought someone was trying to rob him again, and he feared for his safety. I'm confident the facts will eventually come out, in a court of law. In the meantime, I'm not willing to presume that he's some wild-eyed, major drug dealing, wanton Cop killer. Now is the time to mourn the loss of one of our Finest. I wish we as a Nation could revisit this whole area of what's important in drug enforcement, as well as the procedures currently used to enter the home of a civilian, who has not been charged with a crime. Is the control of pot that important to the safety of our Country? Is it worth people dying for? I pray the Officer's family finds comfort over time; they certainly have a lot of Brothers and Sisters who will make sure that they are taken care of.
Untrained "Gun Slinger's" with "John Wayne" mentality
This article shows "too many" good ole' boys corroborating their stories we ONLY hear the "Police" story version. You can't question a dead man (Fact). As a former Military Police Officer, what I see SEVERELY wrong with this "Knock/Announce...then bust the door down" is FORCEABLE entry and homeowners are authorized within their domicile to use deadly force. For all you "John Wayne/Gun Slinger" Police Officers/Detectives, ever hear of a Doorbell? There's no mention the house had a doorbell. Guns don't kill people, John Wayne-mentality-police officers with NO COMMON SENSE kill themselves. This officer WOULD'VE been alive IF he knocked on the door; stood AWAY from the front door he would've been alive today. Was he shot in the arm and chest (once)? He would've been shot from the side at the entry point through the armpit. C'mon VA PILOT report "where" he was shot to determine this fact? Frederick is NOT guilty of 1st Degree Murder. It was not pre-mediated he shot to protect himself with intruders IN his house for pete sake. Look up the definition of 1st Degree Murder!
cops gone wild
Gestapo tactics got the cop killed. I'm sure the evidence will be fabricat...er, turn up to support their hanging this guy for protecting his own. Honesty and the "boys in blue" went the way of basic educational skills (math exams anyone?) and hiring.
Getting the story straight.....
This was NOT a SWAT raid (as some have implied)....if anyone has read the article completely to understand what happend SWAT was NOT called in until the detective had been wounded. This was a team of narcotics detectives executing a search warrant. Amazing how citizens think they understand everything about police operations enough to access their actions after the thought. Most cities have a citizen's academy and/or a ride-along program. I'd suggest taking the opportunity to get a view in a different pair of shoes.