Tucson SWAT Team Defends Shooting Iraq Vet 60 Times
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.
ABC News
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Tucson SWAT Team Shot Iraq War Vet 60 Times
SWAT team members fired 71 times and hit Guerena 60 times, police said.
In a frantic 911 call, Vanessa Guerena begged for medical help for her husband. "He's on the floor!" she said, crying, to the 911 operator. "Can you please hurry up?"
Asked if law enforcement was inside or outside the house, she told the operator, according to a transcript of the call, that they were inside. "They were ... going to shoot me. And I put my kid in front of me."
A report by ABC News affiliate KGUN found that more than an hour had passed before the SWAT team let the paramedics work on Guerena. By then he was dead.
A spokesman for Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said he could not discuss whether any drugs had been found at the home or make any other comment. "We're waiting for the investigation to be complete," he said.
In a statement, the sheriff's office criticized the media, saying that while questions will inevitably be raised, "It is unacceptable and irresponsible to couch those questions with implications of secrecy and a coverup, not to mention questioning the legality of actions that could not have been taken without the approval of an impartial judge."
Mike Storie, a lawyer for the SWAT team, said at a press conference Thursday that weapons and body armor were found in the home as well as a photo of Jesus Malverde, who Storie called a "patron saint drug runner," according to KGUN.
Storie defended the long delay in allowing paramedics to enter the home, saying of the SWAT team, "They still don't know how many shooters are inside, how many guns are inside and they still have to assume that they will be ambushed if they walk in this house."
But Scileppi, Vanessa Guerena's lawyer, said officers were "circling their wagons."
"They found nothing in the house that was illegal," he said. Framing the delay in providing medical attention as a tactical decision is "nonsense," Scileppi said. "There was an ambulance there in two minutes and they were never allowed in."
He pointed out that when Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucson, law enforcement let paramedics have access to victims in a far more volatile situation.
"The pieces don't fit. I think it was poor planning, overreaction and now they're trying to CYA," Scileppi said.
Guerena served two tours of duty in Iraq until he left the Marines in 2006.
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He speculated that perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. "At the wrong place at the wrong time in his own home," he said.
Vanessa Guerena is "devastated and distraught" and seeking justice for her husband and two sons, said her lawyer. "The main thing she wants is her husband's name cleared and his honor restored."
The oldest boy, Jose, turns 6 on Tuesday. "He went to school, came back and never saw his daddy again," said Ortiz. As for Joel, "He's asking, 'Why did the police kill my daddy?'
"We were so worried when he was over there fighting terrorism, but he gets shot in his own home," Ortiz said. "The government killed one of their own."
I hope the family get's a #### load of money suing the authorities responsible... including the stupid judge that signed the warrant. What ever happened to "A Man's Home is his Castle"? The victim has a right to defend his home from invaders even if they have a warrant.
THis war on drugs has got to stop. Look at all those innocent lives lost. All the government had to do was leave these people alone.
Defend the indefensible...continue unapologetically digging that hole (or should that be "grave"?).
The liberal meida had a slobbering love affair with sheriff Dopnick just a short time back, he had blamed talk raido and rush limbagh and glen beck for the shooting of that dem. congress women in Tucson az. Now I supose that usful idiot will claim that his deputies had been listing to rush limbaugh and glen beck befor they went out and shot this poor dope dealing hero 50 times.Poor old Dopnick must feel like poor old John McCain did after the liberal media had fallen out of love with him;
This makes perfect sense - Tell Isreal that the land they got in the 1967 war must be given back, but don't say award to Chairman Mao's People's Republic of China about giving back Tibet because we are becoming like China - a Police State...And every Police State requires the citizen be afraid of the government.
Herr Stoopidnickers again proves how misguided it is to vote for (National)Socialists (in the USA known as Democrats). They think they have the right to break into a person's home, and shoot whoever they feel like to save their cowardly hides. This county is a police state. Typical of the control freaky mentality of these fascists.Remember Illyan in Florida, and the Texas massacre perpetrated by Democrats under Bill Clinton. While this was happening here Herr Clinton allowed Bin Laden to walk because "we did not have a legal reason to arrest him." Not just once either!
Multi-house crackdown, eh? Held off help for the poor kid for an hour, eh?Multi-house crackdown is code word for I got the wrong address. And holding off the paramedics for an hour?This sort of crap has been going on in WA state for over 11 years now. And it's over legal MMJ grows. They just want your cars, houses, motorcycles, and boats so they can sell it in the want ads. The drugs they skim some off the top and resell it on the streets or use it themselves. Wake up Holder, yeah he controls the purse strings of the DEA, you bunch of zealots need to be defended so they can focus on real criminal activity.
Dupnik ? Wasn't he the jerk who blamed Republicans for the shooting of Gabby Giffords,who is he going to blame now?
See the thing is in reality and trainig their tactics are not that far off from us in the army. If they entered only the first man should have fired. They said he was standing in a hallway carrying an assault weapon. Military tactics dictate that first man in clears the threat and the team continues moving. Whatever the outcome 71 or 72 total rounds tells me more htna one officer opened up or the pointman changed mags. This is just all out wrong.
How come this paragon of MSM's liberal bias hides it's favorite ridiculous and inept Sheriff's name (Sheriff Dupnik, who let 'Gabby's' shooter run free) from this story of SWAT Team ineptitude, pre-meditated murder and government/MSM whitewash?Does MSM want us to forget the name my former party's favorite Sheriff who uses his moment of shame/fame to trash conservatives at all costs, even while he's now up to his neck as an accessory to state-sponsored murder?
No more "Drug War". Just an excuse for the state to violate the constitution and grab power from the people. No more SWAT. Too expensive and dangerous. Swat does much more harm than good. Cops should carry a stick and whistle like in the old days. Police weapons should be kept in the armory until someone shows a judge there is a need for Deadly Force. Only then should it be legal for the cops to employ guns to take criminals into custody. Studies have repeatedly shown more people are harmed by police with guns than are helped by them.Cops alway advocate to take guns away from citizens because guns aren't necessary. What's good for the goose........................NEVER EVER VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can understand the frustration of the police but it came out all wrong. This guy is not a "spokesman".
Swat teams arent just dangerous they are costly. It costs almost $75,000 to assemble a SWAT team once, I've heard of cases where the prosecutors themselves have been against the use of SWAT teams because back when they were cops, they'd get the criminals, in a traffic stop, and search the house knowing there man had been safely arrested w/o out violence.Bottom Line even if you are a law and order conservative. Why send a $75,000 swat team, when for less than $500, you can pick a good portion of these guys up in a traffic stop.If we want to stop the misuse of a swat team, I'd say the chief of police needs to be on the line, and he needs to be signing under oath that a swat team is the only way to get these guys. This will cut down on the misuse of swat teams, and we wont be laying off teachers and firefighters so that cops can play SEAL TEAM 6.
They know they messed up. They need to man up and take responsibility for their action, but we need to keep in mind that they also have a dangerous job. Things never go according to plan in these situations.I bet knowing what they know now of Jose Guerena, they wish they had handled it differently. They killed a war vet. That is sad, he did not deserve that.
This has everything to do with this marine being Jose and not Joe. Very sad.
Was an invasion necessary? If he's a drug dealer than just arrest him. Shooting him 70 times seems a bit much considering that he served two tours of duty in Iraq which should tell authorities that this guy is deep down a good man, if not patriotic, who likely got derailed, and probably just needed a little help to get back on track with his life. Even his Captain vouched for him. There's either more to the story or this SWAT team lost control.
Hows that War on Drugs working out for you?
Everyone on this swat team that fired a shot needs to be put in prison for murder! The others who didn't attempt to restrict their colleagues from shooting, need to be tried as accessories to murder! Justice must be served, or our Republic is finished......
A court has now ruled that you have no legal right to defend yourself against the police illegally entering your home. The correct venue to challenge such illegal entries is in the courts.I do have to agree with this decision, but up to a point. This whole thing about SWAT teams invading homes on a drug warrant needs to be revisited.The police need to look like police officers and they could certainly use other methods to apprehend their suspects, other than a home invasion, although I would not rule out such tactics in many cases.This case is complicated by the fact that the victims had family members killed by criminal home invaders, so it was not unreasonable for them to have made the assumption that it was happening again.I have been dragged from my home twice by the police and held at gunpoint while I lay on the ground. Twice the police were acting on false information provided them by neighbors.In both instances, I was completely compliant and to the extent that I could be, gracious. I allowed them on both occasions to search my apartment without a warrant and not finding what they were looking for left, although, on one occasion they did confiscate one of my firearms, which I gladly allowed them to take because I have numerous firearms. Three months later, they were calling and begging me to come pick it up. I'd forgotten about it.The point is that there were errors were made by both parties here and tragically an innocent man died.My heart goes out to his family and to America because any one of us could have been in the same situation.
I sincerely hope every SWAT team member who has a bullet found in this guy's body is charged with Manslaughter and put in jail.NO SPECIAL TREATMENT.
Anyone kicking in your door is not your friend! They are not there to "protect and serve" and therefore will be shot. I will protect my loved ones and my home with everything I have. I might die in the fight but they will loose a few of their own in the process. Too often, even if you don't resist you or your dogs end up dead anyway. Oops, sorry...This is precisely why they don't want people to own guns. Its the same reason criminals don't want you to own guns. It makes it a whole lot safer for the bad guy to do bad things to you.We are the resistance! Wake up people! Time to take back the country again!
So the guy was a home invading drug dealer. But he had a job in a copper mine, just like any other drug dealer. Riiiiiight.He never fired a single round but they put 60 rounds into his body. I think the SWAT team has been daydreaming about Seal Team 6 a little too much.Law enforcement is out of control, just like every other aspect of our government. They can send men to kick in your front door and shoot you sixty times, then "seal" the evidence so no one can look at it.
Posted by Maxfusion: "So, may we assume this is the result of rhetoric from Napolitano concerning returning vets. You remember the DHS memo citing returning Vets as a potential danger, and signed by Ms. Napolitano. Did her inflammatory, politically motivated statements, contribute to the officers state of mind? "Darned straight I do! Incompetano strikes again. She and the Southern Poverty Law center have more than a little blood on their hands. Their partisan loathings are being used to indoctrinate police officers into a paranoid point of view regarding veterans. Veterans in no way deserve to be targeted and abused by local police. This sort of nonsense must stop.
Of course there were weapons and body armor in the home of a veteran living in a community where home invasions had occurred. Duh! Before the government launches an assault on a citizen's household, wouldn't it be ethical to let the homeowner know they're the police? What's a citizen supposed to do when armed thugs come on his/her property and surround his/her home? We still have a steel bathtub in the house for exactly such an emergency. Any remodeling would likely retain this anachronism. We don't expect a violent home invasion, but we certainly wouldn't react passively! We've got a plan. Most veterans do.It's reasonable for a judge to authorize a warrant if there is due cause, but I don't think a judge should be able to authorize a military assault on a citizen's home. There's a big difference between the two.
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