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Missouri Man Killed After Firing at Police in Drug Raid

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #781)
Consequences of Prohibition

A Warrensburg, Missouri, man was shot and killed by police executing a drug search warrant last Thursday night. Beau Appleton, 57,becomes the 10th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

According to local media reports, members of the Warrensburg Police Department's Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) went to Appleton's home to serve a drug search warrant. He "apparently" fired a shotgun at the SERT team as its members entered the residence. Police then opened fire, killing Appleton.

No further details on the shooting were available. Police have not said whether any officers were injured in the incident.

Police said they seized drugs, drug paraphernalia, and firearms, but have not released more specific information.

While the extent of Appleton's criminal history isn't clear, records show he was arrested for drunk driving in Illinois in 2011 and again for driving without a drivers' license in Missouri in February.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating the shooting at the request of the Warrensburg Police.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

kickback (not verified)

I think the cops would need at least a week to do a proper " snow-job " on this incident . Then snowball the Judge . It happens everyday . The D.A. office needs " confiscated " money to , you know , keep the office folk`s happy , maintain a healthy budget . The more they steal from the public , the easier it is for themselves and their career . Put yourself in their boots [ hooves ] .        

Tue, 04/23/2013 - 6:02am Permalink
I LIve Here! (not verified)

 

I am a resident of the neighborhood in Warrensburg, Mo, where the police shot a (suspected) drug dealer on thursday night, April 18, 2013.  I am also aware that some people think the police overreacted in the situation, and that the deceased man was not a drug dealer.  Garbage! 

 

We have endured a long, threatening period of having to watch the drug activities in our neighborhood.  And the only people who would step up to the plate and do the work necessary to protect the people and property in the area were the police.  

 

We tried everything -- all of the suggestions recommended by the so-called experts in such situations.  We contacted politicians from local, city and county governments, the Attorney General's office in Jefferson City, the Circuit Courts, our representative in the US Congress, and just about anyone in the media that we could think of contacting, form Warrensburg to Kansas City.  NO-BODY  would do anything.  It was everybody's unwillingness to help us in any way that kept this neighborhood in danger and drugs.  

 

I personally slept the entire last spring and summer sleeping on the couch with my own weapon at the ready, expecting to become involved in a firefight, some night.  We were getting cars slow-driving by the house with their lights out.  We were getting the usual hate glares and threats from the various perps.  

 

People need to understand that nobody in government or in the media will ever come to the aid of any neighborhood in this state -- or probably the nation -- until deaths occur.  Then, everybody wants to get into the stories and use the aftermath to their own political or economic benefits.  Then everyone is willing to grandstand from their particular podium of self grandisement.  

 

The dead drug dealer was not the first casualty resulting from the illegal activities in this neighborhood.  Last summer, at least one of their customers died from ingesting the poisons they sell.  This particular perp was sometimes known to send a child out to the curb to make a "carhop" style delivery of drugs.  This sort of activity and decadent traffic ruins the values of the neighborhood and makes the place unsafe for all residents.  

 

Last year, there were at least a dozen houses that were trafficking in illegal drugs and other contraband, on a round the clock basis. Largely, because of the activities of the police department -- and nobody else -- almost all of them are now out of business.  There are still a few "party houses" in the area, but it's a whole lot better than it was several months ago.  

 

We'll see what the summer brings. 

 

(A Nearby Resident) 

Tue, 04/23/2013 - 12:33pm Permalink
Drew B (not verified)

In reply to by I LIve Here! (not verified)

There's only one solution to this problem: bring drugs back into the law so they can be controlled by people and entities we can license and hold accountable. Legalization and regulation.

We stopped this horror when we re-legalized alcohol.

The best thing for you to do is find a pro-legalization organization that is to your liking, get your friends and neighbors to join them, then promote them at every opportunity. Personally I suggest LEAP http://leap.cc

Be very wary of people in power, they have been infiltrated those involved in the drug trade. Also, some of them are engaged in a form of ethnic cleansing of those neighborhoods: drive the price of the houses down over the years, and snatch them up for a bargain later. i.e. don't fall in the trap of thinking it's B&W "good guys vs. bad guys."

For the record, I too have lived in numerous very poor neighborhoods over the years (because I am poor) where there were lots of mean looks at me since I looked different from them, and lots of shady activity. It's time to bring this ALL into the light and that means legalization!

I even rented an apt in which the previous tenant was a guy who sold heroin, among other things I bet. Neighbors informed me he lived with his girlfriend and was arrested at some point. The car he left behind in the driveway didn't really bother me, it made it look like someone was always there. :-) But I wasn't keen on the post cards from the govt. about him needing to show up for court, especially since I informed them he no longer lived there. And I really wasn't keen on the early morning banging on my door by cops looking to haul him off to court, since I'd informed them this was a rental property and I had no idea who he was or where he was, and had tried numerous times to inform them of that.

Not long after all that some horrible family moved into the neighborhood and began dealing drugs. My sense is that people in power hated the fact I, a white guy, was living in a "black" neighborhood and they intentionally installed drug dealers there. Not long after those foul and hateful people moved in, my place was broken into.

There is ONLY ONE WAY to end the atrocities due to Drug Prohibition, we have to LEGALIZE DRUGS!!!! 

Wed, 04/24/2013 - 3:41pm Permalink
I live here too (not verified)

In reply to by I LIve Here! (not verified)

I Live Here, I can assure that the WPD was making fun of you including the Chief of Police every time you called on these so called "drug houses"  You have no idea and too much time on your hands if you think they paid one bit of attention to you. 

Wed, 04/24/2013 - 7:56pm Permalink
joebanana (not verified)

In reply to by I LIve Here! (not verified)

Guess what holmes, police don't care if you're selling drugs, or if they got the wrong address. You sleeping with a gun is just what they target. Next time you hear a prowler at 3am, bring your gun, and see just how the SWAT team protects you. The difference between a crime and a victim is, you need a victim to have a crime. A crime without a victim is not a crime, it's a policy. They may call it a "crime", so they can kill people unjustly, thus creating a crime by producing a victim, but that's not how it's supposed to work. Just what did this victim do to create harm? Was he going around busting in peoples front doors and shooting the occupants? Or, was he hosting regular neighborhood gun wars, or did he have visitors on a somewhat regular basis, who came and went without incident? You do realize that you have an eight times better chance of being killed by police, than in a terrorist attack, don't you?

Thu, 04/25/2013 - 1:54pm Permalink
Appleton wife (not verified)

In reply to by I LIve Here! (not verified)

I am trhe wife and I have a lot of friends no one saw drug deals at my house I don't do drugs except smoke every once in a while but you know a little to much info for you to know so get your facts fucking straight you noisy ass neighbor

Thu, 04/25/2013 - 6:07pm Permalink
I live here too (not verified)

In reply to by Appleton wife (not verified)

Exactly wife, you should seek whatever legal means you need to bring down that police departments administration!  I know for a fact that Mr. Appleton was a peaceful man and he would not have fired on police.  He had his issues but he was not violent in that aspect.  If he was provoked or scared, it would be a different story!  Don't drop it WIFE!

Thu, 04/25/2013 - 7:54pm Permalink
appletons family (not verified)

just to set the record straight this family was not living there last summer what happened then does not pretain to this family appleton was a man who loved his family friends and just about anyone he came across he would give his shirt off his back lately he has not had been in the best of health but still loved his family more and more everyday and how dare any of you talk bad about a man who worked his ass of just as much as you and me for his family i have known this family for my whole life and one thing i know now is that a father husband friend son and brother is gone the traffic you want to talk about was family and friends checking on him daily i am one of those family members that sometime i would go there several times a day personally because i knew the severity of his health this loving man now leaves two beautiful young ladies and a loving wife who now has to figure out how to live life without her partner and keeping raising these kids how would u feel if you lost someone the way they have and have people run there mouths the way some of you have lets find out facts before you post your opinions on a man and family you know nothing about

 

with love to the appleton girls hang in there justice will be served soon one day

Fri, 04/26/2013 - 4:17pm Permalink
L.. A. Bloxham (not verified)

I, many years ago, lived in Warrensburg.  I am so sorry to hear of the wife's loss and can not really imagine her grief, nor the sadness of the daughters. Strange how different the anti drug lady's version was from the others. A person's life was lost, is sounds to me, on the strength of gossip. I fear the police will have learned nothing and will excuse and justify what a horror they have caused.

I have been an anti drug war warrior (read this carefully)  for many years in spite of having no interest in the various illegal drugs for my own use. My concern is the Police state and militarization  of the local police that have evolved.  This incident fits the template of an ever growing number of  situations where innocent people were killed on hearsay and innuendo.

In honor of all the injustice, please consider whether the war on Drugs has not caused many more problems than it has solved. It is time to re-think this travesty.

Again,my condolences to the family.  This is a terrible tragedy that we must not allow to ever happen again.

Sun, 05/05/2013 - 7:25pm Permalink
I live here too (not verified)

In reply to by L.. A. Bloxham (not verified)

Absolutely it was a tragedy that could have been prevented if the police where not out for glory status!  They have had several accidental discharges by officers in the past it's a wonder no one was killed. At least that is what one of the administration persons told me that I was in the military with.   He also said that he just works there for the paycheck and dislikes the chief.  Several years ago I remember reading all of the drug warrants served on the meth houses and crack houses and no problems occurred.  I'm not sure if the county sheriff and Warrensburg  police have a swat team together like they used to or not, but I know the sheriffs' department officers where more well trained than the police officers.  Seems maybe they jumped the gun and just startled this guy. 

Fri, 05/10/2013 - 9:52pm Permalink
Daughter of Be… (not verified)

I was in the house when it was raided. It was tragic. At first when I heard the glass breaking the the gun the police kicking the door down. I thought my dad had had a horrible accident. He had recently recovered from a collapsed lung and other difficulties. Then i heard the gun shots that sounds like bombs going off in my living room. I got up out of bed and ran to my door, no sooner did i get there when 3 or 4 SWAT teem members kicked my door down and threw me on the ground. Screaming and yelling at me to not move. In the back ground i hear my mother screaming my name(she does not remember this, i believe it was shock). The police the entered my house that horrible night have no idea what it is like. They were all walking around talking and smiling while my dad is DEAD in the living room. They did not try to save him. They shot him so many times that there was no point. My father was not a bad man, he did not deserve this to happen. Nobody in my family did. I was the last one out of the house, as im walking out i see my puppy a tiny ass Chihuahua, lying dead on the floor, there were spots where they had shot him and them kicked him up aginst the dryer which was right next to my door to my room. That night not only my dad died. I died on the inside. Nobody really know how someone feels when a bad thing happens like this. Its more pain than i bellieve i can take sometimes. But i continue to live for my mother and 13 year old sister, who was also in the house that night. So for you mr>nosey neighbor. Get a grip, my dad did not sell drugs. He did smoke every once in a while but we never sold drugs. My dad was not a drug dealer.  

Thu, 04/24/2014 - 12:57pm Permalink

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