Red James Cash
Banned
- Aug 20, 2009
- 12,824
- 7,899
- Detector(s) used
- Garret Master hunter Cx Plus
- Primary Interest:
- Other
Bungled SWAT Raid Leaves 12-year-old Girl Badly Burned, No Meth Lab Found
October 12, 2012
An early morning SWAT team raid on an alleged meth house produced no meth lab or arrests and instead left a 12-year-old girl badly burned by a flashbang grenade.
It all happened at a Billings, Montana home Tuesday around 6am. While the Fasching family slept, a SWAT team assembled outside their home mobilizing a coordinated raid.
The grenade used was of the non-lethal âflash bangâ variety, made to disorient and cause temporary vision and hearing impairment through a bright flash and a loud blast. It was positioned into a window by a SWAT member using a metal pole called a âboomstick,â which acts as a detonator once the grenade is in place.
The window SWAT chose, however, was in a room where two girls were sleeping, and due to an unexpected delay the grenade fell off the boomstick and went off right next to a girl that lay sleeping on the floor under the window.
âA simple knock on the door and I wouldâve let them in,â the girlâs mother Jackie Fasching told the Billings Gazette.
âShe has first- and second-degree burns down the left side of her body and on her arms,â Mrs. Fasching stated. âSheâs got severe pain. Every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes.â
The Billings police chief called the raidâs damage âtotally unforeseen, totally unplanned and extremely regrettable.â
âWell, Iâll give him unplanned. Though I donât think he meant it in the way I mean it. Sorry, but when youâre blindly shoving a flash grenade attached to a boomstick through a window, and you clearly have no idea who or what is in that room where youâre detonating, the possibility that an innocent person might get burned is not âtotally unforeseen.â Itâs only unforeseen when youâre so caught up in your drug war that you canât be bothered to take the time to consider the possible collateral damage your actions may cause,â The Agitator quipped. [some emphasis added]
Instead of issuing a formal apology, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John blamed gross negligence on the part of police intelligence who supposedly had âdone their homeworkâ prior to the raid. âThe information that we had did not have any juveniles in the house and did not have any juveniles in the room,â St. John told the Gazette. âWe generally do not introduce these disorienting devices when theyâre present.â
Damage done to both the house and the girl were photographed by Mrs. Fasching and provided to the Gazette. One image depicts the indention produced by the grenade on the bedroom wall. Another shows the extent of Faschingâs daughterâs burns.
Although the Billings police department was clearly in the wrong, police chief St. John stated they would not admit their mistake until a formal investigation was concluded. âIf weâre wrong or made a mistake, then weâre going to take care of it,â St. John said. âBut if it determines weâre not, then weâll go with that. When we do this, we want to ensure the safety of not only the officers, but the residents inside.â
Fasching worries that her daughter will need counseling after the traumatizing event, but holds the police department firmly culpable. âI would like to see whoever threw those grenades in my daughterâs room be reprimandedâŚIf anybody else did that it would be aggravated assault. I just want to see that the city is held accountable for what they did to my children.â
October 12, 2012
An early morning SWAT team raid on an alleged meth house produced no meth lab or arrests and instead left a 12-year-old girl badly burned by a flashbang grenade.
It all happened at a Billings, Montana home Tuesday around 6am. While the Fasching family slept, a SWAT team assembled outside their home mobilizing a coordinated raid.
The grenade used was of the non-lethal âflash bangâ variety, made to disorient and cause temporary vision and hearing impairment through a bright flash and a loud blast. It was positioned into a window by a SWAT member using a metal pole called a âboomstick,â which acts as a detonator once the grenade is in place.
The window SWAT chose, however, was in a room where two girls were sleeping, and due to an unexpected delay the grenade fell off the boomstick and went off right next to a girl that lay sleeping on the floor under the window.
âA simple knock on the door and I wouldâve let them in,â the girlâs mother Jackie Fasching told the Billings Gazette.
âShe has first- and second-degree burns down the left side of her body and on her arms,â Mrs. Fasching stated. âSheâs got severe pain. Every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes.â
The Billings police chief called the raidâs damage âtotally unforeseen, totally unplanned and extremely regrettable.â
âWell, Iâll give him unplanned. Though I donât think he meant it in the way I mean it. Sorry, but when youâre blindly shoving a flash grenade attached to a boomstick through a window, and you clearly have no idea who or what is in that room where youâre detonating, the possibility that an innocent person might get burned is not âtotally unforeseen.â Itâs only unforeseen when youâre so caught up in your drug war that you canât be bothered to take the time to consider the possible collateral damage your actions may cause,â The Agitator quipped. [some emphasis added]
Instead of issuing a formal apology, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John blamed gross negligence on the part of police intelligence who supposedly had âdone their homeworkâ prior to the raid. âThe information that we had did not have any juveniles in the house and did not have any juveniles in the room,â St. John told the Gazette. âWe generally do not introduce these disorienting devices when theyâre present.â
Damage done to both the house and the girl were photographed by Mrs. Fasching and provided to the Gazette. One image depicts the indention produced by the grenade on the bedroom wall. Another shows the extent of Faschingâs daughterâs burns.
Although the Billings police department was clearly in the wrong, police chief St. John stated they would not admit their mistake until a formal investigation was concluded. âIf weâre wrong or made a mistake, then weâre going to take care of it,â St. John said. âBut if it determines weâre not, then weâll go with that. When we do this, we want to ensure the safety of not only the officers, but the residents inside.â
Fasching worries that her daughter will need counseling after the traumatizing event, but holds the police department firmly culpable. âI would like to see whoever threw those grenades in my daughterâs room be reprimandedâŚIf anybody else did that it would be aggravated assault. I just want to see that the city is held accountable for what they did to my children.â