Jose Guerena, a 26-year-old Marine and Iraq war veteran, was killed May 5 when a SWAT team broke into his home a little after 9:30 a.m. According to Guerena's wife, Vanessa (who was home at he time, along with their 4-year-old son), Guerena thought the police were home invaders. He ushered his family into a closet, then grabbed a rifle. When the police battered down the door, they saw Guerena and his rifle, and opened fire. The SWAT team released 70 rounds. Guerena didn't fire a shot; the safety of his rifle was still on.
Last week, Arizona attorney Chris Scileppi filed notice of a $20 million lawsuit against Pima County, Ariz., on behalf of Guerena's family. The lawsuit provides a good opportunity to look back at what has happened since since the morning of May 5.
THE INVESTIGATION
Pima County police initially claimed the raid on Guerena's home was part of a marijuana investigation. Days later, they said it was part of an investigation into a series of home invasions, including one that had claimed the lives of two of Vanessa Guerena's relatives. Three weeks after the raid, the Pima County Sheriff's Department released a number of documents related to that investigation.
Those documents strongly suggest Guerena's brother Alejandro and perhaps some associates were engaged in criminal activity, but there's very little that incriminates Jose Guerena. At another home raided the same morning, for example, police found marijuana, $94,000 in cash and several weapons. According to police reports, Alejandro Guerena pulled up to the house in a pick-up truck while the raid was going on, and police found a pistol in his truck.
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