This was murder, plain and simple.
The elderly lady fired only one round.
Source:
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/p...n=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
The cops lied to obtain a warrant. ONE of the officers has a history of not being able to tell the truth.
Officer Arthur B Tesler, (who engineered the "buy" from the granny's house), has a history: fabricating, with the complicity of others. Letter of reprimand.
Officer accused of lying in '01 wreck
By S.A. REID
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/30/06
An Atlanta narcotics officer tied to last week's deadly drug raid on a elderly woman's home was the subject of a 2002 lawsuit that said he "fabricated" the events that led to his head-on traffic collision with a motorcyclist.
That rider, Samuel T. Gulley Jr., received a $450,000 payment from the city last year to settle his claims against Officer Arthur B. Tesler, the city and the Atlanta Police Department. The civil case was dismissed from Fulton County State Court after the settlement in September 2005.
That lawsuit alleged Tesler and other unnamed officers "fabricated traffic charges against Plaintiff, ignored evidence ... and improperly initiated criminal proceedings" against Gulley to cover up the fact that Tesler was at fault in the accident that left Gulley with a broken pelvis and broken leg.
Now the credibility of Tesler and other officers involved in last week's killing is being called into question. Tesler was one of two officers who told a judge they directed a confidential informant through the process of an undercover drug buy at the house occupied by Kathryn Johnston, according to court records.
After the fatal raid, the informant told the Atlanta police internal affairs unit and a local television station that he wasn't involved in the buy that led to the shooting, and that police officers asked him to fabricate his role in the incident.
Denies allegations in lawsuit
In a phone interview, Tesler denied the allegations in the lawsuit but refused to discuss the matter in detail. He said he was aware that the city had settled the traffic case but didn't know the amount.
He refused to comment on the drug raid.
"I really don't want to comment on anything or on any other specific cases until everything is done with," he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Tesler is one of seven narcotics officers and one sergeant on administrative leave pending the outcome of internal, state and federal investigations into the Nov. 21 firefight between three drug officers and Johnston, who was buried Tuesday. Johnston has been identified as 88 years old by authorities but as 92 by family and friends.
Johnston fired on the officers, wounding all three, after they broke down the front door of her Neal Street home in an attempt to serve a "no-knock" search warrant. She died from gunshots to her chest and extremities.
Gulley, who accused Tesler in the civil case, did not return calls left with his father. Steven Barnhart, his lawyer in the case, on Wednesday doubted that Gulley would be willing to talk.
In his lawsuit, Gulley said he was seriously injured when Tesler's patrol car hit his motorcycle head-on after the officer swung wide as he pulled out of a parking lot and into his southbound lane, going the wrong way, the night of May 27, 2001, on Marietta Boulevard in northwest Atlanta.
The lawsuit accused Tesler of giving an inaccurate description of the events leading up to the accident, which resulted in traffic charges against Gulley that were later dropped.
Deputy City Attorney Jerry DeLoach said Gulley's injuries and medical expenses, as well as liability issues, justified the $450,000 settlement, which shouldn't be considered an admission of guilt.
"Looking at all the facts and evidence," he said, "we thought it would be to the city's advantage and the employee's advantage if we minimized our exposure."
A police report written by Officer Jackson Christopher listed Tesler as the victim and suggested that Gulley ran into the officer's police cruiser.
Tesler's account had him pursuing a fleeing suspect when he pulled out. But Tesler didn't alert radio dispatchers to the chase because of heavy radio traffic, according to court papers. The lawsuit contradicted Tesler's account by alleging that the officer was on routine patrol and didn't have his emergency lights or siren on at impact.
Christopher issued Tesler a ticket for driving on the wrong side of the road, according to Barnhart.
The traffic citation was dropped when Christopher and Gulley failed to appear at Tesler's hearing, court papers said. Christopher was away on military duty at the time and Gulley was recovering from the wreck.
Gulley suffered serious injuries in the crash that sent him to the hospital for more than 90 days and left him with more than $90,000 in medical bills.
Based on Tesler's account, Christopher charged Gulley with driving under the influence, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, reckless driving, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain lane and driving with an expired tag, Barnhart said. Christopher also was named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit.
Bbood alcohol level below legal limit
Subsequent test results showed Gulley's blood alcohol level to be below the legal limit, Barnhart said.
The city's solicitor's office abandoned the failure to yield to an emergency vehicle charge, Barnhart said. All the other charges, except driving with an expired tag, were eventually dismissed, Barnhart said.
"I think it was pretty stupid," Barnhart said, adding that the accident report didn't support the alleged violations. "The charges were clearly false. The only way to avoid liability is to say he was chasing a subject. Otherwise, he was a negligent driver himself."
Tesler received a written reprimand after an office of professional standards investigation found that he had violated department policy regarding the operation of city vehicles, according to court papers.
Atlanta police officials deferred to the FBI, the lead investigative agency in the fatal drug bust case, on questions regarding the case and his punishment. FBI officials declined to comment.
unnamed sources? believe what? 
Sounds like the magic bullet theory to me.