Photo from the Associated Press.

In November 2006, members of an Atlanta police narcotics team got a tip from an informant about an alleged drug stash. The alleged drug house actually belonged to 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston (pictured).

The police were supposed to confirm such tips by using an informant to make a controlled drug buy. Instead, the police simply lied on the search warrant, claiming to have conducted such a buy when they hadn’t.

When Johnston awoke hours later to the sound of someone breaking into her home, she met the police with a broken old revolver she kept by the bed to scare off intruders. They opened fire.

The officers called for medical help for their three colleagues who had been wounded by friendly fire. As for Johnston, upon realizing their mistake they handcuffed her and left her to bleed to death on her own living room floor while one of them planted marijuana in her basement.

A subsequent federal investigation found that Atlanta drug cops routinely lied on search warrants. Media investigation and city council hearings followed, and found lots more botched raids on Atlantans who had previously been afraid to come forward.