Editing Shooting of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas

{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Shooting of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas
| image = File:Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas.jpg
| caption = Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were killed in a no-knock police raid
| location = Pecan Park, Houston, Texas, USA
| date = January 28, 2019
| type = [[wikipedia:No-knock warrant|No-knock police raid]]
| fatalities = {{Unbulleted list
| Dennis Tuttle, white male
| Rhogena Nicholas, white female
| Tuttle/Nicholas family dog
}}
| injuries = 5 police officers
| motive = Drug search
}}

'''Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas''' were a white couple who were shot to death in their own Houston home by police performing a botched no-knock raid using information falsified by two black drug officers, Gerald Goines and his partner Steven Bryant.

St. John Barned-Smith and Keri Blakinger of the ''[[wikipedia:Houston Chronicle|Houston Chronicle]]'' described the event as "one of the worst [scandals] to hit HPD in years".<ref name=BarnedSmithBlakinger2nd>{{cite news|author=Barned-Smith, St. John|author2=Keri Blakinger|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/DA-reviewing-800-cases-of-second-officer-involved-13661953.php|title=DA reviewing 800 cases of second officer involved in deadly Pecan Park drug raid|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2019-03-04|accessdate=2019-03-16}}</ref>

{{Infobox criminal
| name = Gerald Goines
| image = File:Gerald Goines.jpg
| charge = {{Unbulleted list
|2 counts felony murder
|Tampering with a government record
|Aggregate theft by a public servant
}}
}}

{{Infobox criminal
| name = Steven Bryant
| image = File:Steven Bryant.jpg
| charge = {{Unbulleted list
|Tampering with a government record
|Aggregate theft by a public servant
}}
}}

==Incident==

Acting on information provided by Houston Police Department (HPD) narcotics officer Gerald Goines, HPD officers raided the home with a no-knock warrant.

According to HPD's version of events, the officers shot the family dog on entry as it attacked them, Tuttle was armed and engaged the officers, while Nicholas was unarmed and apparently shot when reaching for a wounded officer's shotgun.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ammoland.com/2019/02/no-knock-houston-raid-inventory-raises-questions-after-2-killed-4-wounded/|title=No-Knock Houston Raid Inventory Raises Questions after 2 Killed, 4 Wounded|last=Weingarten|first=Dean|date=2019-02-12|website=AmmoLand.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-02}}</ref> The policemen suffered a total of four bullet wounds from a man who was armed with a six-shot revolver.<ref name="reason.com">{{cite news |last1=Sullum |first1=Jacob |title=Houston Police Shot Man Killed in Fraudulent Drug Raid at Least Eight Times |url=https://reason.com/2019/05/06/houston-police-shot-man-killed-in-fraudulent-heroin-raid-at-least-8-times/ |accessdate=30 July 2019 |date=5 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/houston-police-embroiled-scandal-lies-found-knock-warrant/story?id=60991293|title=Houston police embroiled in scandal after 'lies' found in no-knock warrant that led to fatal raid on alleged drug house|author=Hutchinson, Bill|date=2019-02-17|publisher=[[ABC News]]|accessdate=2019-03-16}}</ref>

An independent forensics review disputes HPD's version of events. The family dog was not shot on entry, but at the edge of the dining room, 15 feet from the front door.<ref name="forensics-review">https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Evidence-left-behind-after-botched-Pecan-Park-13842488.php</ref> The review also found no evidence that occupants inside the home returned fire at the officers.<ref name="forensics-review" /> The .357 Magnum firearm Tuttle was alleged to have shot at officers with was not entered into evidence, and no bullet holes were found in the house matching that caliber, nor any evidence that any firearms owned by the couple were fired at the officers.<ref name="forensics-review" /> The review team found a lot of evidence still left at the scene and characterized it as "sloppy," including human teeth in a pool of blood, uncollected firearm shells, and clothing with evidence tags left attached.<ref name="forensics-review" />

==Victims==

Tuttle sustained up to nine bullet wounds. His head and neck; his chest; his left-side shoulder, forearm, hand, thigh, and buttock; and his right wrist were affected by gunshots. Other injuries include "minor blunt force" ones hitting his left ear, extremity wounds, bullet grazing on the right forearm, neck lacerations possibly caused by a necklace, and upper left-side abdomen abrasions.<ref name="autopsy">https://www.click2houston.com/news/autopsy-reports-completed-for-victims-in-botched-harding-street-raid</ref>

Nicholas sustained two bullet wounds, with other injuries tentatively attributed to bullet fragments. Nicholas had been hit in the thigh and chest, and fragments may have affected the right-side leg and thigh.<ref name="autopsy" />

The injured police officers were treated at [[wikipedia:Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center|Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center]].<ref name="Kettererinj">{{cite news|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Acevedo-offers-update-on-injured-officers-13570124.php|title=HPD chief Acevedo IDs suspects, gives update on injured officers|author=Ketterer, Samantha|date=2019-01-29|newspaper=[[wikipedia:Houston Chronicle]]|accessdate=2019-04-18}}</ref> Four of them had received injuries from bullets and another had a knee injury.<ref>{{cite news|author=Barned-Smith, St. John|author2=Nicole Hensley|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/HPD-responding-to-report-of-several-officers-shot-13568491.php|title=4 HPD officers shot in southeast Houston narcotics operation, a fifth injured|newspaper=[[wikipedia:Houston Chronicle]]|date=2019-01-28|accessdate=2019-04-18}}</ref> Houston's police chief, [[wikipedia:Art Acevedo|Art Acevedo]], said a backup police officer shot Nicholas.<ref name=Kettererinj/>

==Aftermath==
Goines has since admitted he fabricated the confidential informant.<ref name="hpm">https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/harris-county/2020/02/26/361921/da-investigating-69-convictions-related-to-former-hpd-officer-goines/</ref> Investigators have found Goines lied repeatedly about casework, was having sex with his informant and had loose drugs and a stolen gun in his car.<ref name="houston-chronicle">https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Gerald-Goines-the-Houston-police-officer-at-14856761.php</ref> Goines has been charged with two counts of murder due to the botched raid.<ref name="hpm" />

Steven Bryant, Goines' partner, was charged with tampering with a government document.<ref name="chron">https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Gerald-Goines-ex-cop-at-center-of-Harding-Street-14848925.php</ref>

The discovery of the depths of evidence fabrication by Goines has lead prosecutors to review about 14,000 cases involving him.<ref name="hpm" /> Two people, Steven and Otis Mallett, have already been declared innocent and released from jail as a result of the review.<ref name="hpm" />

In July 2020, additional felony charges of falsifying documents were levied against Goines and Bryant, as well as newly charged officers former sergeants Clemente Reyna and Thomas Wood, former lieutenant Robert Gonzales, and former senior officer, Hodgie Armstrong.

==See Also==
* [[List of white people shot or killed by police]]

==References==
<references />