OFFICERS: POT GREW IN FUGITIVE'S HOME

A Warrant Says a Texas Man Who Was Shot to Death Had 34 Plants,
Lights and Soil Additive

RALEIGH - A federal fugitive who was shot and killed during a drug
raid last week had a full-scale marijuana-growing operation in his
North Raleigh home, according to a search warrant made public Monday.

Stephen Scott Thornton, 45, of 5401 Alpine Drive died Friday afternoon
at WakeMed's Raleigh Campus from wounds received in an exchange of
gunfire with sheriff's deputies and county ABC officers who forced
their way into his home in a drug raid that morning.

A sheriff's deputy, Sgt. Ronnie Byrd, 37, also was shot in the leg
during the raid. He was treated at WakeMed and released. He is
recovering at home. Wake County sheriff's deputies and officers with
Wake County Alcoholic Beverage Control obtained the search warrant
following a tip from a confidential source and a search of the slain
man's garbage, where they found marijuana and marijuana stems. The
officers also found a light timer in the garbage that is commonly used
with indoor marijuana-growing operations, according to the search warrant.

After the raid Friday, county investigators halted the drug
investigation while State Bureau of Investigation agents searched the
home for evidence related to the shooting. Authorities learned that
Thornton had come to Raleigh after fleeing from his suburban home in
Texas, months before a judge was expected to send him to federal
prison for growing dozens of marijuana plants in that residence.

When authorities resumed their search of the Raleigh residence, they found
marijuana, materials to assist in the growing of the plant and related
literature. Among the items seized were 34 marijuana plants in various
stages of growth, four plastic bags of what appeared to be marijuana, soil
additives, grow lights, plant-growing chemicals, a VHS tape entitled
"Frontline: War on Marijuana" and another entitled "Pot of Gold." Officers
also seized books and magazines on growing marijuana and books described as
anti-government, according to the warrant.

On a Web site, "Texans for Medical Marijuana," a grass-roots
organization that lobbied for legalizing the drug for pain management,
Thornton wrote that he was a cancer survivor who turned to marijuana
to ease his crippling chronic pain.