South Florida Man Dies 11 Days after Being Shot in SWAT Drug Raid

A Hallandale, Florida, man has died less than two weeks after being shot during a SWAT team drug raid at his home. Howard Bowe, 34, becomes the 17^th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Hallandale Police Department SWAT team arrived at Bowe's home in the pre-dawn hours of May 8 to serve a search warrant related to suspected drug distribution at the duplex where he lived. Details of what exactly went down are unclear, but both Bowe and his pit bull were shot. The 13-year-old dog died at the scene. Howe died at a local hospital Tuesday evening.

"It appears the officers from the SWAT team felt threatened," Maj. Thomas Honan, a spokesman for the agency, said on the day of the shooting. He said the elderly dog broke free from its chain and charged the officers.

Bowe's friends and family members want to know what really happened.

"Everyone's still in shock," said Mike Ashley, a friend of Bowe's since school days. "I feel like there's a lot of unanswered questions."

Bowe's sister Corneece, who lives in the other half of the duplex told the Sun-Sentinel earlier that her brother had a car wash business and lawn mowing service and had never been violent. She had been awakened the morning of the raid by the sound of police gunfire, she said.

"They came in the back door," Corneesa Bowe said. "Why shoot an unarmed person?"

Neighbor Fred Webb told the newspaper Bowe was "an honest man who worked every day" at his business, a mobile car wash. A trailer for the car wash was parked next to the duplex. "I can't understand it," Webb said. "I hope he's all right."

Police have not said whether they recovered any drugs or weapons.