CA-SWAT cop shot by suspect while raiding home at 0400

[Anti Federalist]

“Dynamic entry” raids are still dangerous for cops, too

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/t...-for-cops-too/

By Radley Balko October 29 at 6:03 PM

A sad story from California:

A SWAT officer died early Wednesday, a day after being wounded by a shotgun blast while attempting to force open a door during a pre-dawn raid at a Southern California home, authorities said.

Pomona Police Officer Shaun Diamond, 45, succumbed to his injuries at a Pasadena hospital, Chief Paul Capraro said in a statement.

The suspect in the shooting, David Martinez of San Gabriel, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer. He was jailed on $4 million bail, and it wasn’t immediately known if he had a lawyer.

Diamond was wounded as he attempted to lead fellow officers into the home around 4 a.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Eddie Hernandez said.

“When Officer Diamond was attempting to breach the outer door of the location, the interior door opened and he was met with gunfire,” Hernandez told reporters at a news conference outside the hospital.

He said Diamond, who was wearing a helmet, appeared to have been struck in the back of the head by a single gunshot that also hit the suspect’s father in the arm.

Martinez, 36, surrendered without incident, Hernandez said. Officers did not return fire because the suspect’s father was in the way, he said.

This article from the Pasadena Star-News has a few more details:

On Tuesday morning, a group of about 14 officers arrived at the location, announced their presence, and when no one opened the door, attempted to break the lock on an outer door, said Lt. Eddie Hernandez of the Sheriff’s Department homicide bureau.

As Diamond worked to open the door, investigators think Martinez’s father opened the interior door and Martinez fired a shotgun from behind his father.

The spread of the shotgun hit Martinez’s father in the arm and Diamond in the head, Hernandez said . . .

After discharging the shotgun, the suspect dropped his weapon and lay on the ground before officers reached him. Only one shot was fired, and it was fired by the suspect, Hernandez said.

There is no indication law enforcement personnel serving the warrant were ambushed, he said.

“The officers at this point did not have a clear shot on the suspect,” Hernandez said.

The warrant was served at 4am. Martinez has a criminal history, including domestic abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. That said, his actions here strongly suggest he thought his house was being invaded by criminals. If Martinez knew these were cops and decided to take them on, whether with the intent of killing them all or to escape, it makes little sense for him to fire a single shot, then immediately surrender. That sounds much more like the actions of a guy who was taken by surprise, fired his weapon in self-defense, then surrendered when he realized the people breaking into the house were law enforcement officers.

There may well be more, but this at least the third incident I can think of in a year in which a law enforcement officer was killed during a dynamic entry raid to serve a warrant. In one Texas case, the man who killed the officer was cleared by a grand jury. The police found some pot plants in his home. A second Texas man is currently facing murder charges. The police found no drugs in that home. And then there are of course the people killed by police officers in these raids, like David Hooks and Jason Wescott, both killed this year.

Dynamic entry tactics work well when you’re using overwhelming force to defuse an already violent situation. But none of these situations were already violent. This latest incident may have involved a violent person. But he wasn’t in process of committing a violent crime. The tactics the police used here created confrontation and risk. Why not apprehend him as he’s coming or going from the house?

I suspect few people will have much sympathy for Martinez. But the tactics also put his father at risk, a guy neighbors spoke highly of to the local media. These tactics put cops at risk. Other bystanders, like children, are at risk too. All unnecessarily. At some point, maybe we’ll accumulate enough bodies to start realizing that.

[stuntman stoll]

What are the odds of Not guilty-self defense?

[Dr.3D]

If the cops would quit breaking into people's homes in the middle of the night, they wouldn't be getting shot.

The civilized way to serve a warrant is to knock on the door and hand it to the person it is intended for.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Am I the only one who noticed the article says no one answered the door, AT 4AM? Of course no one answered, it's $#@!ing 4am. Who here would answer their door at 4am? if someone was knocking on my door at 4am I sure as hell wouldn't open it. ANYBODY can say they are the police.

They went at 4am so they COULD break into the home. They did not plan on serving a warrant in the conventional way, at all. They knew someone wouldn't answer the door so late/early. They wanted to force entry. Hopefully this man is found not guilty. No sympathy for the cop.

[Anti Federalist]

Says a lot about what kind of country you live in, when somebody breaking into your home at 0400 can reasonably be expected to be cops.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Says a lot about what kind of country you live in, when somebody breaking into your home at 0400 can reasonably be expected to be cops.

It's actually happened to me before, around 3am, cops snooping around my home, they were at the wrong house. I'm a $#@!ing survivor.

[TheTexan]

Did they forget the bearcat or something? There's got to be some kind of heavy equipment that they need that could prevent this kind of tragedy.

[Dr.3D]

Did they forget the bearcat or something? There's got to be some kind of heavy equipment that they need that could prevent this kind of tragedy.

Yeah, an armored vehicle with a battering ram. Just drive into the house and attack the occupants.

[TheTexan]

Yeah, an armored vehicle with a battering ram. Just drive into the house and attack the occupants.

Yes, I'm not sure why they don't do that already. Manually knocking down a door using a hand held ram just seems so old fashioned, and dangerous. At least it's still better than knocking on the door and saying "hello, is anybody here? we'd like to talk". LOL, the funny things people used to do before technology.

[TheTexan]

They need one of these, an "Armored Rescue Vehicle"



I guess they just don't have the budget for it like LAPD. It's a shame too, because if just a little more $ had been spent on officer safety, Officer Diamond would still be alive.

[tod evans]

“Dynamic entry” raids are still dangerous for cops, too

Not dangerous enough or they'd quit that $#@!...

I'll not cry one tear........

[Dr.3D]

They need one of these, an "Armored Rescue Vehicle"



I guess they just don't have the budget for it like LAPD. It's a shame too, because if just a little more $ had been spent on officer safety, Officer Diamond would still be alive.

Yeah, they can use that to rescue you from your life.

[thoughtomator]

His mistake was not grenading the baby first

[TheTexan]

His mistake was not grenading the baby first

That's actually a good point. No flashbangs? They clearly screwed up somewhere. At least Officer Diamond did not die in vain... they learned a difficult lesson from this. Next time they'll do it right.

[presence]

GOOD.

Shame he didn't accidently pick off more of them.

How $#@!ing hard is it to knock and the door at a reasonable hour and say "come out with your hands up we have a warrant for your arrest".

This swat tactic bull$#@! to serve simple $#@!ing warrants has gone way too far.

[Occam's Banana]

Did they forget the bearcat or something? There's got to be some kind of heavy equipment that they need that could prevent this kind of tragedy.

"People may not always understand why, but an armored vehicle is almost a necessity now," [Stettin, Wisconsin Sherrif's Captain Greg] Bean said.

I guess they just don't have the budget for it like LAPD. It's a shame too, because if just a little more $ had been spent on officer safety, Officer Diamond would still be alive.

Bah! San Gabriel CA (pop. 40,000+) has a much larger tax base than Stettin WI (pop. ~2500).

So if tiny little Stettin can afford an armored vehicle, San Gabriel oughtta have 16 of 'em.

Apparently, San Gabriel cops just ain't as dedicated to "protecting" and "serving" as Stettin cops are.

IOW: Officer Diamond actually died from a deficiency of esprit de corp ...

[ghengis86]

GOOD.

Shame he didn't accidently pick off more of them.

How $#@!ing hard is it to knock and the door at a reasonable hour and say "come out with your hands up we have a warrant for your arrest".

This swat tactic bull$#@! to serve simple $#@!ing warrants has gone way too far.

Or the old fashioned stake out? Bunch a plain clothes take them into custody as they're unsuspectingly getting into their car, picking up a pizza, buying beer, etc?

Oh right, that requires a brain and not tacticool

[Pericles]

Says a lot about what kind of country you live in, when somebody breaking into your home at 0400 can reasonably be expected to be cops.

I don't want to live there and I will not.

[phill4paul]

Am I the only one who noticed the article says no one answered the door, AT 4AM? Of course no one answered, it's $#@!ing 4am. Who here would answer their door at 4am? if someone was knocking on my door at 4am I sure as hell wouldn't open it. ANYBODY can say they are the police.

They went at 4am so they COULD break into the home. They did not plan on serving a warrant in the conventional way, at all. They knew someone wouldn't answer the door so late/early. They wanted to force entry. Hopefully this man is found not guilty. No sympathy for the cop.

Funny that. Since I've been reading these stories on raids over the last few years, 3am being the "witching hour," I've been waking at about 2:30am every morning. I haven't programmed myself to do it. It just happens. And it usually takes an hour or so until I can get back to bed.

[Spikender]

A sad story from California:

No tears from me.