Kansas City SWAT Team Members Can Be Sued for Raid on Wrong Home

Members of a Kansas City, Mo., SWAT team who psychologically scarred a young girl when they raided the wrong home aren’t entitled to immunity from being sued, a federal appeals court ruled July 25.

Kansas City homicide detectives secured a search warrant for a house they thought was a homicide suspect’s residence. The warrant application omitted the fact that police had called the victim’s missing cellphone and heard it ringing elsewhere, though they couldn’t precisely locate it.

Although they knew the suspect was already in custody, police executed a SWAT raid on the house. The only people there were three ...