SWAT team killed Jose Guerena who did not shoot

SWAT officers who are from Arizona entered the house Jose Guerena, shooting and killing the 26 year old former Marine in front of his spouse and kids earlier this month, and found nothing illegal in his house. The law enforcement were not fired upon, but sent a wall of bullets in Guerena, a veteran of 2 tours in Iraq. Police conduct is being questioned by a lot of people.v

Marine veteran shot by SWAT team

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. There has been some debate on how many times he was shot as ABC reported he was shot 60 times. CNN states he was shot 22 times though. Guerena hadn’t fired a shot and the safety on his rifle was on. His wife, Vanessa Guerena, called the paramedics so they could help. The police wanted him to die before paramedics came in still.

Nothing in the home merited arrest

The suspicion that Jose Guerena was part of a drug smuggling and robbery ring got the law enforcement a warrant to go to his house. He was allegedly a part of home invasions. He would wear paramilitary clothing and had assault weapons. The Arizona Daily Star states that a “piece of law enforcement-style clothing,” guns and body armor were all found in the home. Mike Storie, the attorney for the SWAT officers, according to KGUN Tucson, has been quoted as saying that Guerena had nothing in his home that would have been cause to arrest him. The Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, has been critical of the press for asking questions about the shooting and whether it was legal. Right away after the shooting occurred, Dupnik said that Guerena had fired at officers, but he later admitted that Guerena hadn’t.

No paramedics allowed in the home

Jose Guerena’s shooting occurred with paramedics arriving fairly easily. They got there within two minutes of shots. 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. Just like American outlaws such as 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 first search didn’t find any. Guerena had two kids, who were ages 6 and 4, and worked for the Asarco copper mine.

Information from

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