Marine Shot 22 Times, Killed in Botched Swat Team Raid

Jose Guerena Ortiz was shot and killed in his own home during this raid by the Pima County Sherriff’s office in Tucson Arizon.

According to the Daily News, his wife Vanessa Guerena insisted she had no idea, when she heard a “boom” and saw a dark-suited man pass by a window, that it was police outside her home. She shook her husband awake and told him someone was firing a gun outside.

Guerena, a Marine and Iraqi war veteran awoke and grabbed his rifle to protect his wife and four year old son.  The Swat team broke the door down, saw the rifle, and fired 71 shots. Guerena never fired his own weapon, but was shot 22 times while his wife and son hid in a nearby closet.

The evidence against him amounted to an anonymous tip, some unsavory friends, and one prior weapons charge.  The county prosecutor’s office says the shooting was justified.

Read the full story at dailynews.com and let us know what you think.  Should the SWAT team have even been there in the first place?  Were they right to fire?   Did Guerena have the right to try to protect his family?