Friends, Family Want Answers in Fatal SWAT Shooting of Sunrise Man

POLICE SAY THEY FOUND 2 OUNCES OF MARIJUANA IN DEAD MAN'S HOME

Police seized 2 ounces of marijuana at the Sunrise home of Anthony
Diotaiuto after shooting him 10 times, according to information on the
drug raid released Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, while many friends and relatives of the 23-year-old
bartender and student mourned him at a Davie funeral home, others
appeared at a Sunrise City Commission meeting to demand an explanation
for the fatal raid.

"Do 2 ounces of marijuana constitute a death warrant?" asked Sunrise
resident William de Larm, a friend of Diotaiuto's.

Earlier, police officials released a summary of the information they
used to obtain the search warrant, listed what was seized from the
house, and detailed what police say happened between Diotaiuto and
SWAT officers Friday morning.

Neighbors and family dispute those details.

Diotaiuto, 23, was killed hours after he got home from work by a SWAT
team looking for drugs. Friends and family say Diotaiuto worked two
jobs, went to church regularly, and was dedicated to giving himself
and his mother, Marlene Whittier, a better life.

Lt. Robert Voss, spokesman for the Sunrise Police Department, gave
this account of the raid:

The SWAT team knocked on Diotaiuto's door and "announc[ed] their
presence" before smashing in his door about 6:15 a.m. They found
Diotaiuto in his living room and ordered him to "freeze" and get on
the ground.

Instead, Voss said, Diotaiuto fled to his bedroom and "armed himself"
with a loaded handgun. Voss said it is unclear whether Diotaiuto
pointed the gun at officers.

Officers Sean Visners and Andre Bruna shot Diotaiuto dead. They shot
him 10 times, leaving wounds to his head, chest, torso and limbs,
according to Broward Medical Examiner Joshua Perper.

In addition to the marijuana, Voss said, officers seized plastic bags
and weight scales from Diotaiuto's home. Possession of 2 ounces of
marijuana is a felony, according to state statutes.

The officers' personnel records were not available Tuesday, but
Visners has been with Sunrise since 1997 and on the SWAT team since
1999, Voss said. He was Officer of the Month for May 2000. Bruna has
been with the department since 1999 and on the SWAT team since 2001.

Voss said both officers have no history of disciplinary problems, and
neither has been involved in any previous shootings. They are on paid
leave pending an investigation.

Neighbors who said they were up at 6:15 a.m. when the raid occurred
said they heard the crash of the front door being smashed, but no
yelling announcing the presence of police.

Rudy Strauss, Diotaiuto's next-door neighbor, came to his window when
his wife noticed the SWAT team descend on the house in the sleepy
Sunrise Golf Village. No words were exchanged outside Diotaiuto's
home, he said.

"I heard this loud bang, and I saw a flash," Strauss said Tuesday. "I
never heard them say 'Police.' If somebody were pounding on the door,
I would definitely hear that, or if they yelled, 'Police, police!'"

The Police Department also gave a brief description of the information
that led to the search warrant. Voss said that the department had the
house under surveillance and made at least one "controlled" drug
purchase there. Voss did not have more details about the search warrant.

The police version did little to allay anger at the department's
handling of the raid.

"Nothing adds up," Brian Kickbush, Whittier's boyfriend, said during
the visitation at Fred Hunter Funeral Home. "If they announced
themselves, I guess all the neighbors are all liars."

At the Sunrise meeting, 15 people stood, many wearing black armbands
adorned with a golden heart, as de Larm told the five-member
commission about how Diotaiuto was planning his first real vacation.
The trip would have included a visit to his 91-year-old
grandmother.

"Now, she has to come to Florida to bury her 23-year-old grandson," de
Larm said, as family members and friends wept behind him.

Saying the shooting made him ashamed to be a Sunrise resident, de Larm
said the officers had too much aggression and too little judgment,
using a search warrant and Diotaiuto's weapon permit to create an
encounter far too likely to have the tragic outcome it did.

Mayor Steve Feren declined to address the allegations directly, saying
the incident has yet to be fully investigated. The response was not
what Diotaiuto's family had hoped to hear.

"We did not get what we expected," said Sarah Spivey, a cousin of
Diotaiuto's who came to Florida from Washington state after the
shooting. "We wanted our side of the story to be heard. Anthony was a
good person and he's being portrayed as a criminal."

Her cousin would never have responded the way police said he did if
the officers clearly identified themselves, she said, and the
information released by the department left her with little faith in
whatever investigation the Sunrise police might conduct.

"They had their minds made up about my cousin before they even went
into the house," she said.

Voss said that people should be patient as the Police Department and
the Broward State Attorney's Office investigate the matter.

"The department grieves for the family. We grieve for our officers,
too. Taking a human life isn't easy to do," Voss said. "It will be
investigated."