2 MORE OFFICERS PLACED ON LEAVE FOR THEIR PART IN BOTCHED DRUG RAID

LEBANON -- Two additional police officers have been placed on
administrative leave after being involved in a misdirected drug raid in
which a homeowner was shot to death, Lebanon Police Chief Bill Weeks said
yesterday.

Lt. Steven Nokes and Officer Tommy Maggort were suspended for their roles
this week in the misidentification of a home targeted in a search warrant
for drugs.

John Adams, 64, was shot and killed about 10 p.m. Oct. 4 when officers
burst into his home and, according to police, Adams fired a shotgun at
them. Police were supposed to raid the home next door.

The Lebanon Police Department has suffered from the ill-planned raid, and
it is important to restore its credibility, but gaining public trust is not
as easy as losing it, Weeks said.

"The only way to do that is to earn it, and we fully intend to do that,''
Weeks said.

Weeks said Nokes is the supervisor of the department's Narcotics
Investigation Unit, and has worked for the Lebanon Police Department for
about 10 years. Weeks described Nokes as a "highly educated and skilled
individual."

Maggort was a case officer with that unit, the chief said. Maggort has been
a Lebanon police officer for about three years and is considered a
well-trained and excellent officer, Weeks added.

Both were involved in pre-raid surveillance designed to document the
location of a home an informant previously entered to make a drug buy.

Both were part of the team of seven officers involved in the raid. Both
have good performance records, Weeks said.

Police Officers Greg Day and Kyle Shedran, who were not involved in the
preparatory surveillance but entered the home and fired the fatal shots,
were placed on administrative leave immediately after the shooting.

Although the two homes are distinctively different at close range, Weeks
said indications are that the angle of surveillance led to the mistake.

The search warrant that the team of seven officers had that night had the
correct address but incorrectly contained a description of the Adams house.

Adams was at home with his wife, Lorine, who said police did not identify
themselves when they knocked and she asked who was at the door. The door
was kicked in when Lorine Adams did not open it.

Police said officers are trained to identify themselves in all but the most
dangerous situations, and Lebanon officials said the officers did identify
themselves that night.

In fairness to both the department and the community, the suspensions were
necessary pending the outcome of a Tennessee Bureau of Investigations probe
and an internal investigation into Adams' death, Weeks said.