Sergeant Mark Kevin Murphy, 35, was killed on Thursday, September 1, 1988, during a high-risk narcotics search-warrant entry in Prince George’s County. A decade-long member of the Prince George’s County Police Department, he was serving as the point man when he crawled to the front door to set hydraulic jacks for a forced entry. The door emitted a loud cracking noise as the jacks took pressure, and two fellow officers mistook that sound for gunfire. They opened fire just as Murphy began to rise, and the rounds struck him, proving fatal.

Murphy left a wife and daughters and was mourned by his department. Because the shooting occurred in the context of that operation, no arrests were made in connection with his death. What information can anyone add about the planning or execution of that entry that might explain how the misinterpretation happened?