Search Warrant Gives New Insight into Fatal Drug Raid

Raleigh, N.C. — Authorities seized 43 marijuana plants, among other items, from the Raleigh house where a man was shot to death as Wake County deputies served a search warrant on him.

The search warrant returned Tuesday by the Wake County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board gives new insight into why investigators suspect Stephen Scott Thornton, 45, was manufacturing and selling marijuana out of his Alpine Drive home.

Acting on a tip, investigators put the house under surveillance on Jan. 3 and found remnants of marijuana and marijuana plant stems in trash containers on the street curb by the driveway.

Investigators also seized more than 79 other items, including bags of marijuana, chemical lights and other equipment used to grow and sell marijuana, "marijuana-growing" magazines, VHS tapes entitled "Frontline: War on Marijuana" and "Pot of Gold," nearly $2,000 in currency and two bottles of controlled prescription medication under the name Scott Monaco.

Thornton was shot inside his home Friday while more than a dozen law enforcement officers served the warrant. He died at WakeMed a few hours later.

Sgt. Ronnie Byrd, 37, a member of the Wake County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team, was shot in the leg.

"We did make a forced entry into the house. Shots were fired," Sheriff Donnie Harrison said Friday.

Harrison declined to say how the shooting unfolded – who fired first and whether Thornton had been shot by a deputy.

The State Bureau of Investigation is handling the shooting case. Search warrants related to it have not been released.

Thornton, who also went by the name Scott Monaco, was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service in Texas on drug and firearms charges, and a full extradition order was in place to return him to the Dallas area upon arrest.

On a Web site called "Texans for Medical Marijuana," a person claiming to be Thornton wrote he was a cancer patient and used marijuana for medical purposes to deal with pain.

He also wrote he provided marijuana to cancer patients for the same purpose with cancer for the same purpose.

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http://texansformedicalmarijuana.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=43

READ Scott's Own Words Before He Was Killed ! He speaks from the grave! He was a victim also. The biggest crime is that deadly force is used in the situations.

My name is Stephen Scott Thornton. I am 42 years old and am a MPS/chronic pain patient (Myofacial Pain Syndrome) and a thyroid cancer survivor. I have a M.S. in organic chemistry from Georgia Tech and have grown marijuana hydroponically for about ten years. My surgery to remove my thyroid gland was exactly ten years ago. I have smoked and grown marijuana since then and it helped me go from a 145-pound weakling to a 180-pound healthy man. I also lifted weights and used anabolic steroids including testosterone by prescription. I recently got busted by the feds and am getting ready to start a prison sentence for an unknown length of time. Most of my property was seized, two automobiles, 5 guitars...etc keep reading it is all there

Thinkb4uspeak
January 9, 2008 5:05 p.m.

http://texansformedicalmarijuana.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=43

When you go to this website you can hear Scott tell his side of the story before he was killed. You will agree with me that this man was just as much of a victim as he was a perp.

My name is Stephen Scott Thornton. I am 42 years old and am a MPS/chronic pain patient (Myofacial Pain Syndrome) and a thyroid cancer survivor. I have a M.S. in organic chemistry from Georgia Tech and have grown marijuana hydroponically for about ten years. My surgery to remove my thyroid gland was exactly ten years ago. I have smoked and grown marijuana since then and it helped me go from a 145-pound weakling to a 180-pound healthy man. I also lifted weights and used anabolic steroids including testosterone by prescription. I recently got busted by the feds and am getting ready to start a prison sentence for an unknown length of time. Most of my property was siezed, two autobiles 5 guitars....etc. READ IT !!!

Thinkb4uspeak
January 9, 2008 4:44 p.m.

12 officers busting into a person's house never giving him the opportunity to come out peacefully is a recipe for disaster in this day & time anyway. I mean criminals are kicking in people's doors screaming "Sheriff's Department" only to rob the homeowners. I'd be scared as hell too if my door is busted down in the middle of the night and would probably do whatever I can to protect myself & my family. All the pre-raid surveillance had been done I'm sure so they knew he was home. Why not simply surround the house and give the man the opportunity to give up peacefully. To risk the officer's lives, as well as the accused life when other means could've been taken to me is just silly. As someone said before, I wouldn't be surprised if the officer wasn't shot by another officer during a chaotic situation created by the powers that be. So what if he's growing weed?? I could care less. Aren't there more serious crimes to be addressed??

tab580642
January 9, 2008 2:13 p.m.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if in the end they determined that Scott didn’t fire at police at all, and that the officer that was injured was shot unintentionally by another officer. That would explain the lack of details and attention given by this snippet, which was the only bit of information referencing the wounded officer in the entire article.

“Sgt. Ronnie Byrd, 37, a member of the Wake County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team, was shot in the leg.”

By whom? Did Scott shoot him or not ?! They know the answer to that question and they did not definitively state it. It seems easy enough to include that I suspect that it may have been purposefully excluded and/or conveniently left out. They let the senseless masses draw their own ridiculous conclusions by providing incomplete statements and partial truths. They basically treat the public like mushrooms, they feed us c**p and keep us in the dark!

Thinkb4uspeak
January 9, 2008 12:50 p.m.

Notice the story reads :

“We did make a forced entry into the house. Shots were fired," Sheriff Donnie Harrison said Friday. Harrison declined to say how the shooting unfolded – who fired first and whether Thornton had been shot by a deputy.

Very vague. Doesn’t even confirm that Scott (the dead man) shot anything or anybody or that he was shot by a deputy. The sheriff refuses to say how the shooting unfolded ! Interesting that the details of this shooting aren’t as transparent as you would expect them to be; as they have been in past similar situations when the officers clearly acted with no fault.

Thinkb4uspeak
January 9, 2008 12:48 p.m.