In the morning of May 5, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona a Pima County Sheriff's Office SWAT team knocked down the door of Jose Guerena's home, where he was sleeping after working the night shift and his wife and five year old child were present. Police were executing a search warrant for marijuana trafficking on several houses. At least one of those houses was an incorrect address that morning. No drugs or illegal items were found in the search of Guerena's home after his death.
Guerena's wife's family had suffered a home invasion within the prior year, where two family members were murdered. Guerena, upon hearing the front door kicked in, grabbed a rifle and called out a warning to whoever was breaking down the door.
The SWAT team, spotting Guerena in a darkened hallway, fired 71 shots at him, at least 60 of which hit Guerena and caused the injuries that killed him. At first police stated that Guerena had fired his weapon at them, but it was later revealed that Guerena's weapon had never been fired. In fact, the safety was on.
Since details of the death have become known, Police have made contradictory statements. They stated that further release of information would hinder other investigations, while their attorney released information that could possibly justify their actions. Police have tried to paint Guerena as a criminal, yet they found no incriminating evidence, no illegal drugs and nothing illegal in his home. Guerena has no criminal record and is a former U.S. Marine who was living with his wife and young child after serving two tours in Iraq. Guerena was working two jobs so that he could buy a home for his family. After media interest in the killing heated up, Police had the search warrant sealed so that it is unavailable to the public at this time.
The situation that developed in Guerena's house that day was that on one hand a man was protecting his home and family, while on the other police were seeking to serve a search warrant using a SWAT team. Both sides had heightened concerns for safety. However Guerena held his fire to identify the threat first, where the police fired before they realized what was happening, and killed a man in front of his child and wife. Then lied about it afterwards. The Pima County Sheriff's Office needs to investigate, possibly prosecute, and purge their department of these officers whose lack of discipline cost Guerena his life.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/tucson-swat-team-defends-shooting-iraq-marine-veteran/story?id=13640112
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_d7d979d4-f4fb-5603-af76-0bef206f8301.html
Police Helmet Cam Video of the Raid (may not be suitable for all viewers)