Cops Mistakenly Tell Mother on Christmas They Shot and Killed Her Son
Washington, D.C. police were forced to apologize to Karen Robinson after erroneously identifying her son Raymond as having been shot and killed in a shootout with cops. Officers knocked on her door at 2 a.m. Christmas Day to deliver the bad news that wasn't hers.
Robinson told NBC Washington she was devastated by the news, but was relieved hours later when her son called to wish her a merry Christmas. "He says, 'Merry Christmas, Mom,' and I said, 'Who is this?'" she told the TV station. "He said, 'Mom, this is Raymond.' I said, 'Boy, they said you died.'"
From NBC Washington:
About 3 p.m. Christmas eve, officers had cornered a robbery suspect off Naylor Road in southeast D.C. He shot at the officers, who returned fire, killing the suspect.
About 2 a.m. Christmas Day, a detective knocked on Karen Robinson's door and asked to see a picture of her son. After she showed them a picture of Raymond Robinson, they told her he was dead.
Apparently, police decided not to wait for a fingerprint ID to come back on the victim after "receiving a tip about the identity at the hospital." "Proper protocol was not followed in the identification process," police said in a statement.
"I think they should make a positive ID on a person before they come because anything could have happened," Karen Robinson told NBC Washington. "I could have had a heart attack right here on this floor."
