`HOW ARE THEY LOOKING INTO IT IF THEY'RE NOT TALKING TO ME?'

Richmond Times-Disaptch January 13, 2002

It's been two months since Scott Lewis heard what sounded like a booming gunshot outside his Boulevard home.
Two months since he dialed 911 and met three Richmond police officers outside his neighbor's apartment at 10 S. Boulevard and pointed to the new, large hole in her bedroom window.

Two months since he saw the three patrol officers look at the hole, suggest that it was made by a rock, then leave without knocking on his neighbor's front door.

Two months since his neighbor, 30-year-old Lia Selberis, lay dead or dying in her bed from a single shotgun blast as police drove away. Someone who apparently knew the layout of her bedroom had stood on her porch rail and fired through her window.

Lewis was upset about what happened and the way the patrol officers had responded on Nov. 7.

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"This isn't about me," he added. It's about the way police responded to the shooting call. "How are they looking into it if they're not talking to me?"

Excellent question.

You would think police officials would automatically want to talk with Lewis about this case - even without his prompting - so they could determine if the responding officers acted appropriately. They had to be aware of concerns in the community about the 911 response, since we published two stories about the delay in finding Selberis and the seven-hour head start that the delay gave her killer, who is still at large.

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That may well be the case. But how can police officials investigate a 911 response case without talking to the person who made the call and watched the response - someone who honestly wanted to help?