No bullets shot from Jose Guerena before demise

A 26 year old previous Marine, Jose Guerena, was killed in front of his spouse and child by SWAT officers, who later found nothing illegal in his home. Guerena is a veteran of two tours in Iraq. He had a gun, but the safety on his rifle was off and he did not fire on the police officers that entered his house. The incident is raising lots of questions over law enforcement conduct.v

SWAT shoots bullets at Marine veteran multiple times

On May 5, SWAT officers of the Pima County Sheriff’s office arrived at the house of Jose Guerena to serve out a search warrant. Officers started to fire on him as they entered the home, states CNN. This was because he was holding an AR-15 rifle when they entered. 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 terminated a shot and the safety on his rifle was on. The police wouldn’t let paramedics to come into the home until after he passed away even though they were called by his wife, Vanessa Guerena.

Arrest not needed

Law enforcement thought that Guerena was part of a robbery ring and drug smuggling ring. This was how the police got a warrant. Supposedly, he had assault weapons and paramilitary clothing on while doing some house invasions. In the home, there were several things found to go along with this possibly, reports the Arizona Daily Star. This integrated body armor, “piece of law enforcement-style clothing” and guns. KGUN Tucson states that SWAT team officers’ attorney Mike Storie was quoted saying that Guerena had nothing to warrant arrest in his house. The Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, has been critical of the press for asking questions about the shooting and whether it was legal. As soon as the shooting was over, Dupnik said that officers were shot at by Guerena. Later he said Guerena really did not shoot at them.

Not allowing in paramedics to help

Within two minutes of the shooting of Guerena, paramedics arrived on the scene. However, the officers at the scene prevented emergency medical personnel from entering the house and experiencing 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 narcotic runners. Just like American outlaws for instance Billy the Kid and Jesse James, Malverde has become a hero of sorts even though he may have never really existed, states Wikipedia. Whether or not there were drugs in the house is unknown. The original search did not discover any. There were children ages 4 and 6 that belonged to Guerena. The Asarco copper mine is his employer.

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