Kentucky dispatchers repeatedly told police officers the address of a house they were supposed to raid over an alleged stolen Weed Eater, only for the cops to raid the wrong home and kill the man inside.
Kentucky State Police, which is conducting the investigation, said Douglas Harless, a 63-year-old white man, “produced a firearm and pointed it at officers,” which is why they had to shoot and kill him just before midnight last week.
But had London police raided the correct address at 489 Vanzant Rd. — instead of 511 Vanzant Road — Harless probably would still be alive today.
The dispatcher repeated the correct address at least five times to the officers before they chose to raid the wrong address, according to WKYT, which obtained the dispatch audio recording and also spoke to the owner of 489 Vanzant Rd., who said nobody has lived in the home for months.
Although police have released little details about the shooting, neighbors told local media they were searching for a stolen Weed Eater on Dec. 23 when they banged on Harless’ front door at 11:50 p.m.
The incident is drawing comparisons to the Breonna Taylor shooting in 2020 where Kentucky cops raided her home looking for a man who did not live there, only for them to shoot and kill Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman with no criminal history.
The incident is also raising questions as to why London police were asking dispatchers for the address if they had an actual search warrant which would list the address on it. WKYT said it has made several public records request for the warrant but the Laurel County courthouse says it has no record of a warrant and police have not produced a copy of the warrant either.
But Kentucky State Police specifically mentioned London police had a “search warrant” in its statement published on its website.
Also, why was the London Police Department serving a warrant outside city limits in a rural area normally patrolled by the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office and why did they not conduct surveillance on the house prior to the raid to ensure they raided the correct home?
“He was a very quiet, humble person,” said Carl Merritt, who lives across from the Harless home and who is listed as the owner of several properties on that block, including 489 Vanzant Rd., according to online records from the Laurel County property appraiser’s office.
“Stayed to himself, never bothered nobody. For something like that to happen to that poor man, it hurts me really to think somebody like that, especially in my backyard, being shot in his own home.”
Merritt’s security camera captured the police surrounding his neighbor’s home, according to WLEX.
“I heard five shots,” one neighbor told WLEX who did not want to be identified. “At least five shots. Woke me up. I was laying on the couch.”
Footage from local media shows the address, 511, was clearly visible on the front of Harless’ home. Yet after the shooting, a voice can be heard on the dispatch recording saying, “shots fired. 489 Vanzant Road.”
Kentucky State Police, the agency investigating the shooting, issued the following statement on its website.
On December 23, 2024, Officers from the London Police Department were following up with an investigation which started in the city limits of London. This investigation led officers to attempt to execute a search warrant at a residence on Vanzant Road in Laurel County. While doing so, the occupant of the residence produced a firearm and pointed it at officers. The officer then responded with force, which resulted in the death of the occupant.
Meanwhile, Harless’ friends and family are expressing outrage on Facebook under the hashtag #justicefordougharless including the following comment from his brother, Mark Harless.
The warrant was delivered to the wrong house and the officers went in for a stolen Weed Eater from a local tool shed in London, at 1150ish in the pm. Several, not one or two officers but several, went to (the) address on said warrant which was at the wrong house. He was asleep. Someone (knocking )then kicking in your door around midnight. What would you do? Still several officers and AR 15s for the guy they were supposed to be delivering the warrant on .!! WOW .
My brother is gone . The family is broken . This is terrible. He was a law abiding man murdered in his own home by the ignorant local London city police over evidently someone’s
very important in the town of Londons Weed Eater . I hope the man that stole it is enjoying his Christmas. God will judge us all in the end.
No word yet on whether the stolen Weed Eater has been recovered or the real culprit arrested.
