Marine killed in SWAT raid, shot 71 times...Search warrant or Death warrant?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Status
Not open for further replies.
jcardona1

jcardona1

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2007
11,491
40
0
42
South of Heaven
I find it very hard to believe the police in this situation. And this is why law enforcement is so hated these days. They can't be trusted. No-knock raids are absolute garbage and put too many lives in danger.
- They first lied about being shot at. They claimed their shields were riddled with bullets. A week later, they come out and said the victim never fired, and he weapon was on safety.

- This could have happened to anybody defending their home against a potential home invasion. This is why no-knock raids are such a bad idea.

- The police refused to let paramedics come on the scene, and let the guy die slowly.

- They did not find or seize anything related to the raid.

- The wife claims she never heard them ID themselves as police. No sirens, nothing. Just bust down the door and start shooting.

- This is why I feel SWAT should have helmet cams at all times. Too many innocent people (and dogs) are killed in this brutal no-knock raids. And really, is a narcotics search enough to justify these violent raids? Seems like they should be left for those heinous crimes.
​
How anybody could side with police on this one is beyond me.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_d7d979d4-f4fb-5603-af76-0bef206f8301.html

The Pima County Regional SWAT team fired 71 shots in seven seconds at a Tucson man they say pointed a gun at officers serving a search warrant at his home.

Jose Guerena, 26, a former Marine who served in Iraq twice, was holding an AR-15 rifle when he was killed, but he never fired a shot, the Sheriff's Department said Monday after initially saying he had fired on officers during last week's raid.
Six days after Guerena was shot, few details about the investigation that brought the SWAT team to the southwest-side home Guerena shared with his wife and their two young sons are known. Guerena's role in the narcotics investigation is unclear and deputies would not comment on what was seized from his home.

Three other homes within a quarter of a mile from Guerena's house, were served search warrants related to the investigation that morning. The addresses and the names of people who live in the other homes have not been made public.

Vanessa Guerena says she heard noise outside their home about 9 a.m. Thursday and woke her husband who had just gone to bed after working a 12-hour shift at the Asarco Mine, she said. There were no sirens or shouts of "police," she said.

Guerena told his wife and son to hide inside a closet and he grabbed the AR-15 rifle, his wife said.

The department says SWAT members were clear when identifying themselves while entering the home.

"Tucson is notorious for home invasions and we didn't want to look like that," said Lt. Michael O'Connor of the Pima County Sheriff's Department. "We went lights and sirens and we absolutely did not do a 'no-knock' warrant."

When five SWAT members broke through the front door Guerena was crouched down pointing the gun at them, said O'Connor.

"The suspect said, 'I've got something for you,' when he saw them," O'Connor said. Guerena's wife denied he said that.
Deputies began shooting.

A deputy's bullet struck the side of the doorway, causing chips of wood to fall on his shield. That prompted some members of the team to think the deputy had been shot, O'Connor said.

The Sheriff's Department put in a call to Drexel Heights fire at 9:43 a.m. requesting assistance with a shooting. But crews were told to hold off.

Guerena was dead by the time they were allowed in the house, fire officials said.

Vanessa Guerena vividly remembers seeing her wounded husband.

"When I came out the officers dragged me through the kitchen and took me outside, and that's when I saw him laying there gasping for air," Vanessa Guerena said. "I kept begging the officers to call an ambulance that maybe he could make it and that my baby was still inside."

The little boy soon after walked out of the closet on his own. SWAT members took him outside to be with his mother.
"I never imagined I would lose him like that, he was badly injured but I never thought he could be killed by police after he served his country," Vanessa Guerena said.

The family's 5-year-old son was at school that morning and deputies say they thought Guerena's wife and his other child would also be gone when they entered the home.

Guerena says there were no drugs in their house.

Deputies said they seized a "large sum of money from another house" that morning. But they refused to say from which of the homes searched that morning they found narcotics, drug ledgers or drug paraphernalia. Court documents showing what was being sought and was found have not been made public. A computer check on Guerena revealed a couple of traffic tickets and no criminal history.

Guerena was a Tucson native and Flowing Wells High School graduate. He joined the U.S. Marines in 2002. He served two tours in Iraq in 2003 and 2005 as part of the Yuma-based MWSS-173 under direct supervision of Master Sgt. Leo Verdugo.
Verdugo was with Guerena's family Tuesday afternoon. He gave them a Marine Corps jacket and gloves to use at Guerena's burial.

"He was an excellent Marine, with a bright future ahead of him," Verdugo said.

"We had just bought a home and he was working graveyard shifts and overtime just to help pay the bills, we were just starting to make this house our home," Vanessa Guerena said.

"I know I can't have him back but I want justice. I want explanations for what happened," she said.
Contact reporter Fernanda Echavarri at fechavarri@azstarnet.com or 573-4224.
Click to expand...

Another version

http://www.kgun9.com/story/14621212/marine-killed-by-swat-was-acting-in-defense-says-family

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - New details are emerging about Jose Guerena, the man killed last Thursday in a SWAT incident at his Tucson home. He was gunned down by SWAT members while his wife and young child hid in a closet.

Now, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has taken responsibility for the fatal shooting. The SWAT team said it was just executing a narcotics search warrant when Guerena threatened officers with a military rifle. But the Sheriff's Department has changed its story on whether Guerena actually fired at anyone.

On Tuesday, candles and tributes to Guerena could be seen outside his home. Family members said the 26-year-old former Marine served two tours of duty in Iraq. A smashed window and a barrage of bullet holes might be the type of scene a battle-hardened Marine would find in a war zone but not the Tucson home he shared with his two children and wife. Guerena's wife, Vanessa, said her husband died thinking he was protecting his family from an invasion.

"I saw this guy pointing me at the window. So, I got scared. And, I got like, ‘Please don't shoot, I have a baby.' I put my baby (down). (And I) put bag in window. And, I yell ‘Jose! Jose! Wake up!'" she explained.
Jose had just come home from working at the mine. Vanessa said he had fallen asleep two hours before, only to wake up to chaos in his house. It was Pima County SWAT executing a narcotics conspiracy search warrant, but according to her, neither she nor her husband knew it was the authorities until it was too late.

"You're saying only (they) yelled SWAT after the shootout?" asked KGUN9 reporter Joel Waldman.

"Oh, yes! Yes," said Guerena.

Vanessa said Jose grabbed a gun to protect himself from what he thought were home invaders. But, authorities said the Marine knew who it was; and they said he had SWAT in his sights. According to officials, Jose crouched with his AR-15 and said, "I have something for you!"

"Now, they're saying this now that they admitted for him not shooting back (SIC). They want to throw more dirt on him," said cousin Oscar Garcia.

Now, Pima County Sheriff's officials are refuting original claims that Guerena fired at the SWAT members. In fact, they confirmed his safety was still on when his gun was recovered. Also, officials said that reports that some SWAT officers' shields were riddled with bullets are also untrue.

SWAT gunned Jose down with 71 rounds fired in just about seven seconds; officials said they did not expect Vanessa to be home with their four-year-old son, Joel, who ended up witnessing his dad's death. Now he has questions about what happened, like so many others.

"The only thing he asked me, 'Mom, my dad a bad guy? They killed my dad! Police killed my dad? Why? What did my dad do?'" explained Guerena.

Jose's relatives want his children to know he did his best to be a great husband, dad and patriot.

Authorities told KGUN9 that three other neighborhood homes were targeted Thursday, all tied to a narcotics conspiracy. They say a large amount of cash was found at one of the homes. But, not at the Guerena house; all they said they found there was "evidence pertinent to the case." At this time, officials aren't saying anything more. However, Vanessa Guerena has insisted there were no drugs or money in their home.
Click to expand...
 
Sickening. :shakehead
 
So many good points. Sickning

jcardona1;5120759; said:
I find it very hard to believe the police in this situation. And this is why law enforcement is so hated these days. They can't be trusted. No-knock raids are absolute garbage and put too many lives in danger.
- They first lied about being shot at. They claimed their shields were riddled with bullets. A week later, they come out and said the victim never fired, and he weapon was on safety.

- This could have happened to anybody defending their home against a potential home invasion. This is why no-knock raids are such a bad idea.

- The police refused to let paramedics come on the scene, and let the guy die slowly.

- They did not find or seize anything related to the raid.

- The wife claims she never heard them ID themselves as police. No sirens, nothing. Just bust down the door and start shooting.

- This is why I feel SWAT should have helmet cams at all times. Too many innocent people (and dogs) are killed in this brutal no-knock raids. And really, is a narcotics search enough to justify these violent raids? Seems like they should be left for those heinous crimes.
​
How anybody could side with police on this one is beyond me.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_d7d979d4-f4fb-5603-af76-0bef206f8301.html



Another version

http://www.kgun9.com/story/14621212/marine-killed-by-swat-was-acting-in-defense-says-family
Click to expand...

Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
 
ballinouttacntrol;5120846;5120846 said:
Fubar. What race was the victim?
Click to expand...
Hispanic. In Arizona. Go figure.
 
Wow it kills me to read this junk. Fed dea smashed down doors at my moms house on a tip and i wasn't even in the country at the time. Supposedly i had a grow room in the basement, and it was the actinic blue lights from fishtanks. Gotta love the police.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom