Sheriff Admits Bad Police Work In SWAT Deputy Shooting

The Sheriff's Dept. has now admitted that much of the confusion surrounding the drug bust that led to the shooting of a SWAT deputy was due to poor police work after the SWAT team left the back door of a duplex they were raiding unguarded.

The escape of two suspects became confounded with a bizarre shooting episode in the Village of the Arts, and a questions about how many suspects were actially ibvolved.

Deputies originally told the press there were four armed suspects and that one escaped, but two more were eventually captured outside the building.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has the story, but as of 1 a.m. Friday morning, the Bradenton Herald does not:

July 27. 2006 3:44PM

Authorities admit mistakes in bust

By ANTHONY CORMIER
anthony.cormier@heraldtribune.com

PALMETTO -- A SWAT team did not cover the back door of a suspected crack house on Wednesday morning, allowing a drug suspect to escape during a raid that left a deputy and an additional suspect wounded, authorities acknowledged at an afternoon news conference.

The shootout left Lt. Todd Shear, 34, with injuries to his hand and neck after a bullet ricocheted off his weapon inside a back bedroom at the duplex on 27th Street West, Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells said.

Wells said the failure to cover the back door in time allowed an armed man to escape. The man, whose identity has not been released, was still on the lam Thursday afternoon.

Shear was released from Manatee Memorial Hospital Thursday morning while 22-year-old Arnell Elrod remained hospitalized with a bullet wound to his leg. Six people have been charged in the raid, including Tulani Cooper, 25, who is accused of shooting Shear.