Jose Guerena shooting

Jose Guerena
Born
Jose Manuel Guerena Ortiz[1]

(1984-11-23)November 23, 1984
Tucson, Arizona, US
DiedMay 5, 2011(2011-05-05) (aged 26)
Tucson, Arizona, US
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
Body discoveredMay 5, 2011
Children1

Jose Guerena was a U.S. Marine veteran who served in the Iraq War and who was killed in his Tucson, Arizona, home on May 5, 2011, by the Pima County Sheriff's Department SWAT team. Deputies were executing a warrant to search Guerena's home while investigating a case involving marijuana being smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico.

The shooting garnered national attention and generated significant debate on the subject of the militarization of police in conjunction with the following facts in the case: After the shooting, no evidence of illegal activity nor any illegal items were found at Guerena's residence; Guerena's wife and 4-year-old child were hiding within the home from whom they thought were intruders when deputies opened fire with a salvo of 71 rounds; Guerena's weapon was found with its safety still engaged; Guerena's prior military service and lack of any criminal record; Inconsistencies in statements given by officials describing what had transpired at the scene.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

In September 2013, the four police agencies involved agreed to pay Guerena's wife and children $3.4 million as a settlement, without admitting wrongdoing in their killing of Guerena.[9]

  1. ^ Cesar Barron (12 May 2011). "Ex-Marine shot by SWAT has local roots". Nogales International. Archived from the original on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  2. ^ The facts mentioned here are referenced in the relevant sections of the article below. The references which follow this one are to show the NATIONAL news coverage this event received.
  3. ^ Axe, David (30 May 2011). "Drug Raid Turns Ugly as SWAT guns down Marine vet". Wired.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-01. One thing is clear. With military-grade vehicles, armor, assault weapons and robots, the raid on Guerena's home was all but indistinguishable from the kind of house-clearing operations U.S. forces perform every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guerena survived two tours in the desert only to perish in a military-style action in his own home.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Huff_Post_1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Huff_post_2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference marinenever was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Ellen Tumposky (27 May 2011). "Drug SWAT Team That Gunned Down Ex-Marine Found No Drugs". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2011-05-28.

    But protests in the community continue. Guerena's widow will join members of the Oathkeepers, a group of veterans and law-enforcement officials, for a Memorial Day rally Monday at the Guerena home . The Oathkeepers say on their website that they are determined "to take a stand against the egregious policy of using SWAT teams to serve search warrants on veterans and gun owners with no violent criminal history.
  8. ^ Hardy, David (2017-10-21). "When local cops drive tanks: The deadly consequences of militarizing Mayberry". Salon. Archived from the original on 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  9. ^ Joe Ferguson (20 September 2013). "$3.4M settlement in deadly 2011 SWAT raid near Tucson". Arizona Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2013-09-24. Retrieved 11 May 2017.