No bullets shot from Guerena before loss of life

Earlier this month, the loss of life of a 26 year old Marine Corps veteran occurred at the hands of police. Jose Guerena who is from Arizona was shot to death by a SWAT raid while being watched by his wife and kids. Guerena didn’t fire on law enforcement officers, and was a veteran of two tours. The incident is raising lots of questions over police conduct.v

Shooting of Marine veteran done by SWAT team

Jose Guerena had some unwanted visitors on May 5 from the Pima County Sheriff’s office. The SWAT officers had a search warrant they were using. When the officers entered the house, according to CNN, they found him holding an AR-15 rifle and they opened fire. The number of times he was hit is being disputed; CNN states he was shot 22 times, but other sources such as ABC is reporting he was shot 60 times. Guerena hadn’t fired a shot and the safety on his rifle was on. Vanessa Guerena, his wife, called paramedics, but the law enforcement prevented them from entering the home until after he had died.

Nothing in the home merited arrest

The law enforcement obtained a warrant for entering the Guerenas’ house on the suspicion that Guerena had been part of a narcotic smuggling and robbery ring. Supposedly, he had assault weapons and paramilitary clothing on while doing some house invasions. Guns, body armor and a “piece of law enforcement-style clothing” were found in the home, according to the Arizona Daily Star. KGUN Tucson reports that SWAT team officers’ lawyer Mike Storie was quoted saying that Guerena had nothing to warrant arrest in his home. Since the press asked questions about the shooting and its legality, the Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has been upset. Dupnik said that Guerena fired at officers, but later admitted the truth that he hadn’t, right after the shooting.

Detained paramedics

Within two minutes of the shooting of Jose Guerena, paramedics arrived on the scene. However, the officers at the scene prevented emergency medical personnel from entering the house and observing Guerena for more than an hour, long after he was dead. The house also had a portrait of Jesus Malverde, considered a “patron saint” of drug runners. Wikipedia states that Malverde may not really be real. He is still considered a hero to some just like Jesse James and Billy the Kid were known in the Wild West. Whether or not there were narcotics in the house is unknown. The first search did not find any. Guerena had two kids, who were ages 6 and 4, and worked for the Asarco copper mine.

Citations

CNN

cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/27/arizona.marine.death/index.html?hpt=T2

Arizona Daily Star

azstarnet.com/news/local/article_47d3b9b2-8345-11e0-a48d-001cc4c03286.html

KGUN Tuscon

kgun9.com/story/14682200/guerena-family-attorney-responds-to-swat-lawyer

ABC

abcnews.go.com/US/tucson-swat-team-defends-shooting-iraq-marine-veteran/story?id=13640112