On Thursday, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik broke his long public silence about the May 5 SWAT shooting that claimed the life of former U.S. Marine Jose Guerena, and sat down for an extended interview with KGUN9 News Anchor Jennifer Waddell. He addressed questions about why authorities felt it necessary to dispatch a SWAT team that day to execute a series of search warrants, and also talked about other issues surrounding the controversial shooting. The sheriff made the startling revelation that he believes Guerena greeted the SWAT team with a rifle that day because Guerena thought he was about to be arrested on a charge of murder.

Guerena has family ties to two people who were shot to death in a double homicide last year. The murders of Cynthia and Manuel Orozco remain unsolved. Someone shot the couple to death in their home on Tucson's west side March 29 of last year, leaving the victims' two children orphaned. Sheriff Dupnik declined, however, to say whether their investigation had tied Guerena to that or any other specific murder case. He did say that the office of County Attorney Barbara LaWall has that information and will be releasing it soon.

Guerena died May 5 shortly after a team of SWAT officers broke down his door in an attempt to serve a search warrant. The team fired a total of 71 shots, with 22 of them hitting Guerena. The Sheriff's Department and the SWAT team attorney say that the officers were forced to open fire after Guerena pointed a rifle at them. Guerena's wife claims she and her husband did not know at the time who was breaking down their door.

http://www.kgun9.com/story/14829480/raw-video-sheriff-dupnik-opens-up-about-fatal-swat-raid#