YACT: Cops shoot innocent ex-marine in AZ (huffington)

[yh125d]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/jose-guerena-arizona-_n_867020.html

On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers from at least four different police agencies armed with SWAT gear and an armored personnel carrier raided at least four homes as part of what at the time was described as an investigation into alleged marijuana trafficking. One of those homes belonged to 26-year-old Jose Guerena and his wife, Vanessa Guerena. The couple's 4-year-old son was also in the house at the time. Their 6-year-old son was at school.

As the SWAT team forced its way into his home, Guerena, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, armed himself with his AR-15 rifle and told his wife and son to hide in a closet. As the officers entered, Guerena confronted them from the far end of a long, dark hallway. The police opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in about 7 seconds, at least 60 of which struck Guerena. He was pronounced dead a little over an hour later.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department initially claimed (PDF) Guerena fired his weapon at the SWAT team. They now acknowledge that not only did he not fire, the safety on his gun was still activated when he was killed. Guerena had no prior criminal record, and the police found nothing illegal in his home. After ushering out his wife and son, the police refused to allow paramedics to access Guerena for more than hour, leaving the young father to bleed to death, alone, in his own home.

........

Seems pretty cut and dry this time to me


Edit: Long article, read the whole thing

 

[SandEagle]

60/70 hit ratio? damn, thats good.


still, wtf did he need to get an AR15 out for? stupid cops

 

[marvdmartian]

The really bad part to all this is that the cops find themselves in a lose-lose situation. Probably 9 (or more) times out of 10, they'll enter a house, and have someone armed to the teeth, who is more than happy to shoot at them. After a while, they see a weapon, they tend to shoot first, and ask questions after.

Not saying it's right, just saying I can understand the frustration on their part, that leads to fatal mistakes like this one. Wouldn't be surprised if the wife/family doesn't have a lawyer or two contact them in the next few days, offering to sue for millions.

And the worst part is, no matter the final outcome, a wife is now a widow, and a little child will never see their daddy again.

 

[BoberFett]

OMG! Marijuana??!?! They should have just nuked the city. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[lupi]

Is there such a thing as an innocent marine at huffington.

 

[Bateluer]

The marijuana charge is irrelevant, the man pulled an assault rifle on the police, and allegedly opened fire. The cops had a warrant too. Means he should have sat down, asked for legal counsel, and closed his mouth while the police conducted their legal search. Pull a gun on the cops, expect them to defend themselves.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1412410&nid=6

TUCSON, Ariz. - Authorities have released the name of a man fatally shot by a Pima County Sheriff's Department tactical team while they were serving a search warrant at a South Tucson home.

Deputy Jason Ogan says Guerena shot at SWAT team members with an AR-15 assault rifle before they returned fire.

 

[mrjminer]

Pretty fucked up. Guess that's where the whole "no-knock/don't have to identify themselves as cops" laws get to come into play. On one hand, I hate that there are so many sue-happy shitheads and that our legal system is fucking up the entire country. On the other hand, this mom and kid are going to be able to get a lot more out of it than they would otherwise (and rightfully so).

I've got $20 on the warrant being obtained under false pretenses, or a dirty judge. Pretty fucking ridiculous that they're allowed to seal the affadavit and warrant AFTER they do the raid, let's see how long that bullshit holds up in front of a real judge.

 

[mrjminer]

The marijuana charge is irrelevant, the man pulled an assault rifle on the police, and allegedly opened fire. The cops had a warrant too. Means he should have sat down, asked for legal counsel, and closed his mouth while the police conducted their legal search. Pull a gun on the cops, expect them to defend themselves.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1412410&nid=6

Maybe you should read the article in the OP with the updated version of events, where the guy had fired no shots, and had his safety on.

 

[child of wonder]

OMG! Marijuana??!?! They should have just nuked the city. It's the only way to be sure.

This.

The "War on Drugs" is ridiculous, especially on marijuana.

 

[SandEagle]

The marijuana charge is irrelevant, the man pulled an assault rifle on the police, and allegedly opened fire. The cops had a warrant too. Means he should have sat down, asked for legal counsel, and closed his mouth while the police conducted their legal search. Pull a gun on the cops, expect them to defend themselves.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1412410&nid=6

did u read the fvcking article?

The Pima County Sheriff's Department initially claimed (PDF) Guerena fired his weapon
at the SWAT team. They now acknowledge that not only did he not fire, the safety on
his gun was still activated when he was killed. Guerena had no prior criminal record,
and the police found nothing illegal in his home.

 

[RampantAndroid]

The marijuana charge is irrelevant, the man pulled an assault rifle on the police, and allegedly opened fire. The cops had a warrant too. Means he should have sat down, asked for legal counsel, and closed his mouth while the police conducted their legal search. Pull a gun on the cops, expect them to defend themselves.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1412410&nid=6

No, they confirmed he did NOT fire. The gun was on safe. MOreover, the charge is that the cops did a no-knock entry, but rather that his wife saw people outside with guns - pointing them at her and her child through a window. Were I in that guys place...I would have grabbed my M14. Or my 44 magnum. Or my 41 magnum. Or my glock. Or hell, all of them. They all stay loaded with defense rounds. Any why? Two break in attempts at my place.

The really bad part to all this is that the cops find themselves in a lose-lose situation. Probably 9 (or more) times out of 10, they'll enter a house, and have someone armed to the teeth, who is more than happy to shoot at them. After a while, they see a weapon, they tend to shoot first, and ask questions after.

Not saying it's right, just saying I can understand the frustration on their part, that leads to fatal mistakes like this one. Wouldn't be surprised if the wife/family doesn't have a lawyer or two contact them in the next few days, offering to sue for millions.

And the worst part is, no matter the final outcome, a wife is now a widow, and a little child will never see their daddy again.

No. Less people own guns than you think. There is no excuse for this. The cops involved should be suspended with or without pay pending a investigation.

Even if the cops are telling the truth, he then YELLED at them before they entered...so why did they then enter?

 

[Perknose]

Is there such a thing as an innocent marine at huffington.

Take that shit to P&N.

The Huffington article was standing up for the marine, you dimwitted partisan douchebag.

 

[Numenorean]

The marijuana charge is irrelevant, the man pulled an assault rifle on the police, and allegedly opened fire. The cops had a warrant too. Means he should have sat down, asked for legal counsel, and closed his mouth while the police conducted their legal search. Pull a gun on the cops, expect them to defend themselves.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1412410&nid=6

The article in the OP says that he didn't fire, and the safety was still on.

Was this "warrant" one of those wonderful "no-knock" warrants where they basically just pound your door down without warning? If my door was randomly pounded down, I'd get my gun too.

Did they identify themselves as police officers? Did they give the guy a chance to put the gun down and let them search?

 

[OCGuy]

These no-knock warrants need to be stopped. This is the shit that happens.

 

[child of wonder]

The more I think about this the more I feel all the cops involved should be terminated immediately. They lied and tried to cover up what really happened. They've violated the public's trust and don't deserve to be cops.

 

[rasczak]

the marine died needlessly imo. had he kept his cool and let the cops in instead of barricading himself and "acting" guilty, he would be alive and his wife and kid would have hubby/daddy.

 

[shortylickens]

No such thing as an ex-marine.
He's just no longer active duty.

 

[RampantAndroid]

The more I think about this the more I feel all the cops involved should be terminated immediately. They lied and tried to cover up what really happened. They've violated the public's trust and don't deserve to be cops.

Exactly. Frankly, most cops don't deserve it.

I don't agree with cop killers, but I can see why they go off the deep end, given shit like this.

 

[Numenorean]

the marine died needlessly imo. had he kept his cool and let the cops in instead of barricading himself and "acting" guilty, he would be alive and his wife and kid would have hubby/daddy.

He did keep his cool. Kept his weapon on safety, and never fired.

Sounds like he didn't know who was busting into his house. Add that to the fact that his wife had relatives who were killed (including their children) by home invaders. What the fuck would you do? Paint a target on your torso and go out there?

 

[OCGuy]

the marine died needlessly imo. had he kept his cool and let the cops in instead of barricading himself and "acting" guilty, he would be alive and his wife and kid would have hubby/daddy.

More fail..

I really doubt someone with no criminal history, and not participating in any illegal activity, knew they were cops and went and grabbed his gun.


I seriously don't understand why anyone would trust police after they have already been caught lying about being shot at...

 

[gophins72]

OMG! Marijuana??!?! They should have just nuked the city. It's the only way to be sure.

dont be ridiculous... nuking the whole state would have left no evidence and remove doubt and error.

 

[amdhunter]

The really bad part to all this is that the cops find themselves in a lose-lose situation. Probably 9 (or more) times out of 10, they'll enter a house, and have someone armed to the teeth, who is more than happy to shoot at them. After a while, they see a weapon, they tend to shoot first, and ask questions after.

Not saying it's right, just saying I can understand the frustration on their part, that leads to fatal mistakes like this one. Wouldn't be surprised if the wife/family doesn't have a lawyer or two contact them in the next few days, offering to sue for millions.

And the worst part is, no matter the final outcome, a wife is now a widow, and a little child will never see their daddy again.

No the worst part is, that these murdering assholes are still out on the street waiting to get their next legal kill.

 

[Meghan54]

Just another example of the U.S. slowly becoming a police state with the citizens, who are "supposedly" in charge of the police after all, having no power or recourse.

The police resist civilian oversight repeatedly across the country, are getting states to pass laws making it illegal to video cops working, and these no-knock warrants are just a way around the court ordered systems of announcing themselves......and doing this to "protect and serve".....themselves.

 

[SolMiester]

The marijuana charge is irrelevant, the man pulled an assault rifle on the police, and allegedly opened fire. The cops had a warrant too. Means he should have sat down, asked for legal counsel, and closed his mouth while the police conducted their legal search. Pull a gun on the cops, expect them to defend themselves.

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1412410&nid=6

Im not so sure on this one, anyone can bust into your house and claim to be police and as America is determined that everyone should have the right to bare arms, the guy was in his rights to defend his wife and property.....

What I find disturbing is the police lied about the home owner firing 1st.....

We come in peace, what a joke.......

 

[Bateluer]

did u read the fvcking article?

The Pima County Sheriff's Department initially claimed (PDF) Guerena fired his weapon
at the SWAT team. They now acknowledge that not only did he not fire, the safety on
his gun was still activated when he was killed. Guerena had no prior criminal record,
and the police found nothing illegal in his home.

Are you an idiot? You do NOT ever pull a gun, loaded, safetied, unsafetied, rubber duck, etc, on the cops. If you do, expect to get taken down. The cops entered under a legal search warrant, its irrelevant that they didn't find anything, they entered legally. The ex-marine pointed an assault rifle at them, which the police have no way of knowing whether or not it was loaded or safetied, they saw a deadly open pointed at them and responded accordingly.