Warrant confirms London police forced entry to wrong house when they shot, killed man
London police were at the wrong house when they shot and killed a man during a botched December 2024 raid in rural Laurel County, according to a copy of the newly released search warrant.
Kentucky State Police released a trove of documents Friday related to its yearlong investigation into the police shooting of Douglas “Doug” Harless, 63, just days before Christmas in December 2024.
The original search warrant officers were executing when they shot Harless has not been released until now.
The case file, nearly 1,000 pages long, details how the London Police Department was authorized to search a white, doublewide trailer with a covered front porch located at 489 Vanzant Road in Lily as part of an investigation into stolen lawn equipment. Instead, police broke down the door to a mobile home with a matching description but a different address — 511 Vanzant Road — where Harless lived.
“The officers erroneously arrived at [redacted] (learned after the shooting) and while knocking and yelling for the occupants to open the door, they forced the door open and were met with a male pointing a pistol at the officers,” KSP Critical Incident Response Team Sgt. Les Moses wrote in a report hours after Harless was killed.
Police say Harless raised a semi-automatic pistol at them, and they shot and killed him when they tried to enter his home.
A Laurel County grand jury in February declined to indict any of the officers involved in that raid. London Police Det. Josh Morgan, who the documents reveal fired the fatal shots at Harless, was cleared of any suspected wrongdoing.
Police shot Harless five times. An autopsy report shows he suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head, neck, torso and extremities. Nine officers were on the scene at the time of the shooting.
Stolen power tools, leaf blowers, weed eaters, pole saws, electronics and hand tools were reported stolen from a property belonging to Laurel County Judge-Executive David Westerfield and the basis for the search warrant. The suspect officers identified, Hobert Buttery, told investigators he took a heater, thought to be part of the stolen equipment, to a pawn shop in Manchester and delivered a weed eater to a man named James Steele who lived at 489 Vanzant Road in Lily.
Buttery, 49, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to theft by unlawful taking and persistent felony offenses.
Other witness statements backed up the claim the stolen items were located at 489 Vanzant Road. An accompanying warrant affidavit states there was probable cause to believe the property was located at the home, and Laurel District Judge John Chappell signed the warrant.
City officials told the Herald-Leader police used information from the 911 system and property valuation administrator’s office to confirm the location when they prepared the original warrant. But the house numbers at the address police showed up to that night did not match, and it is still unclear where the discrepancy between those maps and the actual numbered addresses arose.
For more than a year since the shooting, police have denied records requests by members of the public, media and attorneys for Harless’ family, citing the ongoing investigation. Last month, attorneys for Harless’ family sued KSP for records related to the investigation into his death.
Harless’ death became a point of contention in local politics, dividing the London City Council and Mayor Randall Weddle’s administration on how the investigation should be handled. The council voted to implement body worn cameras to its police force as a result.
Since the shooting, monthly vigils have been held in his honor and members of community have demanded justice for the officers involved.
This story was originally published April 10, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
