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Latest revision as of 10:03, 30 May 2011
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Jose Guerena was a U.S. Marine who was killed in his Tucson home, on May 5, 2011, by officers of the Pima County SWAT team, while they were conducting a forced entry search of his home.
Course of Events
Asleep after returning from a 12-hour overnight shift at the Asarco Mission mine, Jose was awakened about 9:30 AM by his wife who heard noises outside their house. He instructed his wife and 4-year-old son to hide inside a closet while he grabbed his AR-15 rifle and crouched down preparing to defend himself from whomever was breaking into his home. In one version of this story, once the SWAT team had broken open the front door, one member's negligent discharge put a bullet into the doorway, causing other members of the team to believe that Jose had shot at them. "There were five officers at the door beginning to make entry into this home, when they engaged this individual that they believed was actually firing at them." Other versions of this story claim that officers started shooting as soon as they saw him with his weapon pointed at them. At this point the five person team fired 71 rounds at Jose in seven seconds, who bled to death after being hit 60 times.
Upon investigation, it was revealed that Jose had not fired a single shot, nor even disengaged the safety on his weapon.
The Pima County Sheriff's department claims that this was not a no-knock search; though his widow states that she had no knowledge that the man she saw pointing a gun at her through the window was a police officer, and thought that he was part of a home invasion group. This was something she feared; as she has stated that two members of her sister-in-law's family were killed about 11 months previous in a home invasion. As of May 23, 2011, that case, in which Cynthia and Manny Orozco were killed and their 2-year-old daughter received life-threating injuries, remains unsolved.
Adding to the controversy in this case, the sheriff's department under Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has had a judge seal the search warrants as well as the documents showing what items were seized from the home, and then later chastised the press for wanting to know the details of the case.
Viewers' Voice: Sheriff chides media, KGUN9 News responds
Medical Attention Denied or Delayed
Another unanswered concern is that despite the fact that an ambulance and Lifeline helicopter were on standby during this raid, and his wife called 911 to report her husband's being shot, they were told to hold back for an hour and a quarter before being finally sent away.
As of May 19th, the SWAT team members have hired an attorney who claims that the search was looking for persons suspected of involvement in home-invasion type drug-ripoffs; yet the other three searches done in connection with this one (in the same neighborhood, at the same time, as part of the same investigation) have yielded no arrests.
Family's lawyer: Authorities trying to discredit man
"A computer check on Guerena revealed a couple of traffic tickets and no criminal history."
Jose, 26, was a native of Tucson and a graduate of Flowing Wells High School, who joined the Marines in 2002 and served two Iraq tours in 2003 and 2005 with Yuma-based MWSS-173. He is survived by his wife of over eight years, Vanessa, and their two children, ages 4 and 5.
References
- "SWAT team fired 71 shots in raid". http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_d7d979d4-f4fb-5603-af76-0bef206f8301.html.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help) - "Raw video: Sheriff's Office interview on fatal SWAT raid". http://www.kgun9.com/story/14643812/this-case-involves-a-narcotics-conspiracy-case-which-means-that-we-are-looking-for-a-lot-of-different-narcotics-related-material-that-can-be-drug?redirected=true.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help) - "Tucson SWAT Team Defends Shooting Iraq Vet 60 Times". http://abcnews.go.com/US/tucson-swat-team-defends-shooting-iraq-marine-veteran/story?id=13640112.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help) - "Slaying of couple leaves relatives perplexed". http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_5cdff5bd-8d06-5f2b-b53f-93d067e41331.html.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help) - "Sheriff's Dept. defends SWAT shooting silence". http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_13c1bf16-80b6-11e0-87f1-001cc4c002e0.html.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help) - "911 tapes back up SWAT account of fatal raid". http://www.kgun9.com/story/14688966/911-tapes-back-up-swat-account-of-fatal-raid.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help) - "SWAT team fired 71 shots in raid". http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_d7d979d4-f4fb-5603-af76-0bef206f8301.html.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|url=(help)