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Undercover Narc Kills Armed Michigan Teen

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #775)
Consequences of Prohibition

An undercover Michigan drug task force officer shot and killed a 17-year-old who pulled a weapon and tried to rob him Tuesday afternoon in Southfield, police said. Austin Ryan Thomas becomes the 7th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

According to the Detroit Free Press, citing police sources, an as yet unidentified Madison Heights police officer working with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET) was working undercover during an investigation at an apartment complex in Southfield when the teenager pulled a weapon and tried to rob him.

"During the investigation a suspect pulled a weapon on one of the undercover NET officers and placed the weapon to the officer's head in an attempt to rob him," said Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe late Tuesday in a prepared statement.  "The officer pulled his gun and was able to fire shots that struck the suspect."

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Wednesday that undercover agents had twice previously bought cocaine from Thomas. He added that Thomas had entered the undercover agent's unmarked vehicle and was seated in it when shot. The vehicle did not carry surveillance cameras because it was an unmarked vehicle, he said.

 Thomas was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead there. No officers or bystanders were hurt.

The NET task force is comprised of deputies and police officers from 13 Oakland County jurisdictions, along with DEA agents. The police shooter has been placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the killing.

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

sicntired (not verified)

If he had a gun to his head and still managed to pull his own pistol and shoot the suspect several times the suspect was either without bullets and would therefore try to surrender,or the cop just blew the guy away.Anyone who's had a gun shoved against their head knows you can't make a move.

Fri, 03/15/2013 - 12:57am Permalink
Informed Oakla… (not verified)

In reply to by sicntired (not verified)

You sir are misinformed, Officers are trained to deflect the suspects arm away. By raising their hands in a non threatening manner. I love when people who are ignorant to the facts spout off at the mouth.
Sun, 03/17/2013 - 6:49am Permalink
sicntired (not verified)

In reply to by Informed Oakla… (not verified)

I forgot how superior your training makes you.This was in a car.As an informed police officer you would say black was white to get your brother officer off.That,is the only thing certain in this dialogue.That,and that a 17 year old kid slinging dope is dead because of the way drug laws are over enforced.You're on the wrong side of history here.As for the incident,you have as much knowledge as I do and are just as uncertain about what went down.

Sun, 04/14/2013 - 10:19pm Permalink
CJ (not verified)

i never realized how us junkies had anything in common with police but i just realized that we do. how odd. i never wanted to be like a cop in any way but i just realized that the general American public hates/distrusts/dislikes/looks at with contempt junkies almost as much as they hate/distrust/dislike/look at with contempt cops.

probably the only demographic where it doesn't apply is senior citizens. they generally seem to love cops and hate junkies (altho some of them hate cops and love junkies because they sell their meds to the junksters cause their social security aint cutting it)

Mon, 03/18/2013 - 12:00am Permalink

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