Cancer survivor killed by police during raid

[amsterdamage]

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/story/866822.html

A federal fugitive who was shot and killed during a drug raid last week had a full-scale marijuana-growing operation in his North Raleigh home, according to a search warrant made public Monday.Stephen Scott Thornton, 45, of 5401 Alpine Drive died Friday afternoon at WakeMed's Raleigh Campus from wounds received in an exchange of gunfire with sheriff's deputies and county ABC officers who forced their way into his home in a drug raid that morning.
A sheriff's deputy, Sgt. Ronnie Byrd, 37, also was shot in the leg during the raid. He was treated at WakeMed and released. He is recovering at home.


Wake County sheriff's deputies and officers with Wake County Alcoholic Beverage Control obtained the search warrant following a tip from a confidential source and a search of the slain man's garbage, where they found marijuana and marijuana stems. The officers also found a light timer in the garbage that is commonly used with indoor marijuana-growing operations, according to the search warrant.


After the raid Friday, county investigators halted the drug investigation while State Bureau of Investigation agents searched the home for evidence related to the shooting. Authorities learned that Thornton had come to Raleigh after fleeing from his suburban home in Texas, months before a judge was expected to send him to federal prison for growing dozens of marijuana plants in that residence.


When authorities resumed their search of the Raleigh residence, they found marijuana, materials to assist in the growing of the plant and related literature. Among the items seized were 43 marijuana plants in various stages of growth, four plastic bags of what appeared to be marijuana, soil additives, grow lights, plant-growing chemicals, a VHS tape entitled "Frontline: War on Marijuana" and another entitled "Pot of Gold." Officers also seized books and magazines on growing marijuana and books described as anti-government, according to the warrant.


On a Web site, "Texans for Medical Marijuana," a grass-roots organization that lobbied for legalizing the drug for pain management, Thornton wrote that he was a cancer survivor who turned to marijuana to ease his crippling chronic pain.