Dupnik’s SWAT team initially claimed that Guereña fired at them while they were serving a warrant — as he slept. They claimed that his bullets hit the bulletproof shield that the entry team hid behind, and that the barrage of bullets they fired back was in self-defense.
Only, Guereña never fired his weapon. Awoken by his wife with screams that men with guns were invading his home and threatening his family, Jose Guereña armed himself with a AR-15 rifle and crouched in the hallway. The SWAT team unloaded upon Guereña on sight. He apparently recognized the home invaders as police. He took 60 rounds, but never — as the Pima County Sheriff’s Department was forced to admit — took off his weapon’s safety as he was being killed.
Guereña held his fire, apparently unwilling to kill police even though they riddled him with rounds. And did not allow medical attention until it was too late. Oh, and there was nothing to indicate any reason for raiding that home.
I'm sick to death that our police forces are becoming more and more militarized even as we try to wage war as a law enforcement issue. Will somebody be prosecuted for this murder?
This is just wrong.
UPDATE: Note, I know they are "sheriffs," but I think of them a falling under the generic term of local "police."
