Posted on 05/23/2011 4:37:47 AM PDT by marktwain
A Tucson, Ariz., SWAT team defends shooting an Iraq War veteran 60 times during a drug raid, although it declines to say whether it found any drugs in the house and has had to retract its claim that the veteran shot first.
And the Pima County sheriff scolded the media for "questioning the legality" of the shooting.
Jose Guerena, 26, died the morning of May 5. He was asleep in his Tucson home after working a night shift at the Asarco copper mine when his wife, Vanessa, saw the armed SWAT team outside her youngest son's bedroom window.
"She saw a man pointing at her with a gun," said Reyna Ortiz, 29, a relative who is caring for Vanessa and her children. Ortiz said Vanessa Guerena yelled, "Don't shoot! I have a baby!"
Vanessa Guerena thought the gunman might be part of a home invasion -- especially because two members of her sister-in-law's family, Cynthia and Manny Orozco, were killed last year in their Tucson home, her lawyer, Chris Scileppi, said. She shouted for her husband in the next room, and he woke up and told his wife to hide in the closet with the child, Joel, 4.
SWAT officers fired at least 71 shots at suspect Jose Guerena, a former U.S. Marine, and a family struggles to put the pieces together.
Guerena grabbed his assault rifle and was pointing it at the SWAT team, which was trying to serve a narcotics search warrant as part of a multi-house drug crackdown, when the team broke down the door. At first the Pima County Sheriff's Office said that Guerena fired first, but on Wednesday officials backtracked and said he had not. "The safety was on and he could not fire," according to the sheriff's statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Are they supposed to rely on all his years of "experience" again?
I talked to my brother in Tucson a couple of days ago, and he told me that the Democratic machine there had a real strangle hold on the press. Most of the folks there do not know exactly what happened. At least that was his excuse.
Shooting 71 times...hitting..with 60..makes no sense..did they shoot him in the face..or open his mouth..and put in a few rounds. Kicked him in the face..
MY blood is boiling.
Story indicates a “multi-house drug raid”, whatever that’s supposed to mean.
Funny , no mention of drugs being found ...
My guess for the “safety” , he recognized the armed intruders as cops and didn’t flip it off. As he was military he naturally would keep his weapon safe, his error was in not recognizing the threat or giving them credit for being “professional” or “friendly” ..
It means "WE ARE YOUR OPPRESSORS, AND ANY ATTEMPTS TO RESIST WILL RESULY IN YOUR DEATH. BE GLAD WE DIDN'T KILL YOUR WIFE AND CHILD AND BURN EVERYTHING."
Mike
When Sheriff Dipstik was asked why they shot the Marine veteran 60 times he responded by saying, “Well it was the best they could do, they really didn’t have time to reload. Besides when you’re hopped up on Viagra and adrenaline, and hosing a man down with a German submachine gun, it’s just hard to stop! If that won’t give you wood nothing will”! The Sheriff also said “anyone else questioning my authority just might get an early morning visit of their own”. There were no more questions.
No drugs found?
Multi home search warrant ?
Gang banger- hiding out?
oh... excuse me - sleeping in because of selling drugs?
nope - night shift at the Asarco copper mine -
hope his wife and kid get multimillions from this.
There is no situation that cannot be made worse by the presence of police. That goes double for SWAT.
Wannabee bad asses get fired up on adrenalin putting on their “war “ clothes and Katie bar the door.Anything that gets in their way is a target. But first the 100 mile an hour ,anything goes ,patrol car race to the scene.
I second the motion !
...i could even forgive an honest mistake.
but he was still alive, and that SWAT team kept the medics away, for 1 hour and 14 minutes, until he bled to death.
(because they couldn’t “secure” the tiny house the Vet had purchased with his wife only 2 months before.)
THAT makes it cold-blooded murder.
the penalty should be death, for all involved.
Precisely.
The house is tiny. What sort of threats did they need to secure?
They wanted to kill this man, and they did.
EVERY LAST MEMBER AND THE SHERIFF DESERVE DEATH.
You know, this is barely satire any more.
I don't see much new in the article from previous coverage. The only new fragment was about the wife saying not to shoot that she had children.
I hate to see policemen in black uniforms, especially with knit head cover with eye holes. What purpose does that serve? I guess it covers up white skin, but not all policemen are white. Masks hide who you are, is that the point?
they changed their story many times, about a lot of things.
the “first shot”, the corny movie dialogue, etc.
they also changed the hit rate number. the number of shots has always been 71. but all the initial reports, said 7 out of 71.
then, weeks later, after many comments on their inaccuracy, suddenly it changed to 60 out of 71.
i believe the initial number. since we know from the 911 call the wife made, and the abulance, that he didn’t die for well over an hour. but that part is rarely reported now. and when people hear “60”, they now assume he died immediately, which we know he didn’t.
more coverup, of their mistake, and cold blooded murder of a VET.
a neighbor and the wife, both confirm their was no sirens, etc. as claimed. And that swat guy must have seen her through the window. yet they stormed that house, and sprayed 71 bullets, knowing there was a woman and child there.
in this crappy economy, there is a niche market for claymores...
The Fourth Amendment has been canceled, per The U.S. Supreme Court.
There was no knock on the door, so little chance for a peaceful resolution. Perhaps if he had opened the front door he could have lived.
Dupnik is a Cheka and needs to go. Don’t kid yourself. This type of abuse of power has been going on for years, irregardless of which party is in The White House.
Democrat and Obama/criminal illegal invader supporter Clarence Duprik has his own taxpayer funded death squads.
“As a result of the need for information surrounding the shooting of Jose Guerena by members of the Pima Regional SWAT Team, the public has received misinformation and emotionally-charged speculation.
Please view the attached media release for more information.”
http://pimasheriff.org/bulletins/officer-involved-shooting-update/
How many people are now thinking that this is the norm for our police squads around the nation? These incidents are happening more and more. I have some friends who are also ex military and who have even this SWAT team out gunned. They are forcing normal god fearing citizens to arm themselves to the teeth.
If the police are gonna do this then im gonna go out in a blaze of glory. Not with my friggin safety on.
This war hero was a casualty in the unnecessary and tragic “War on Drugs”. Many of us have been saying for years that our freedom and safety are being eroded in the name of this unwinnable and immoral “War”.
Now we see the proof.
Anyone mounting any similar home invasion in my neck of the woods will find my safety “off”. There’s no way to tell if it’s the police or criminals - and in cases like this it’s not clear if there’s any difference regardless.
My deepest sympathies and condolences to this hero’s family. It’s the worst combination of a heartbreaking and infuriating incident.
“Live free or die!”
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