[asterix031]

This "dead person" (or however you want to label him as the raid wasn't a trial...)... He should have woken up from his (possibly druggy) sleep and within moments be fully alert and coherent, allowing himself to recognise that his residence was being raided by a legitimate police team with a misplaced warrant?

Back "in the day" when I was house sharing as a student in a reasonably sensible neighbourbood, our house was broken into and vandalised while I was out. Furniture was broken, kitchenware shattered, etc... Enough noise to wake the dead. But funnily enough they did not wake up my sober, law-abiding house-mate, who slept through the whole commotion and was lucky not have been attacked. He was a very heavy sleeper... Though if he had woken he probably would have stepped out of his room half awake and in fear, holding a golf club too.

I am not surprised that a resident in a house (known for drugs) when startled in the middle of the night may have said "what the Fuch" and took some time in comprehending his environment, especially if under the influence. I would expect the team performing the raid to know this would be a likely scenario to encounter, and be appropriately prepared / equipped to handle it correctly. The intention of the raid was an arrest, not a killing, correct?

Can such raids not be handled differently? Example - Surround the property appropriately, then gas the occupants unconscious before entering, allowing evidence to remain intact and disabling anyone inside at the same time? Or are bullets, dead bodies of possibly innocent people, and press conferences on raids-gone-wrong a more acceptable solution?