Marine shot two police officers, one fatally

[red ufo]

http://www.modestobee.com/local/story/9745305p-10612066c.html



CERES — A United States Marine shot two police officers, one fatally, Sunday night. In a second gun battle three hours later, officers shot and killed the suspect.
Ceres Police Sgt. Howard Stevenson died from his injuries at an area hospital, a spokesman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said this morning.

Officer Sam Ryno was listed in critical condition at an area hospital Monday morning. Both men had been shot several times with an automatic rifle.

Three hours after the shooting, police shot and killed the suspect when they found him behind a nearby home. Police said Monday that the 19-year-old Modesto man, reported absent without leave from Camp Pendleton Saturday night, had served in Iraq and did not want to return.

The officers responded to a call made by an employee at George's Liquors on Caswell Avenue at 8:07 p.m. Sunday. The employee told emergency dispatchers that a man holding a rifle and acting crazy had just left the store and was walking down the street.

Gunfire erupted shortly after police arrived. Both officers had been shot several times, Modesto police spokesman Rick Applegate said late Sunday night. The officers also exchanged gunfire with the suspect before he fled.

Witnesses told police the suspect ducked into a home on Caswell Avenue about two blocks from the liquor store. Officers from the Ceres, Modesto, Turlock and Newman police departments as well as the Stanislaus and Merced Sheriff's offices and the California Highway Patrol responded.

Nearly one square mile of the city's roads were closed as a California Highway Patrol helicopter hovered overhead and police officers and SWAT teams took positions around the home.

Police officers shot out street lights to diminish the suspects vision, Applegate said.

"We can't have a city employee turn off the lights because in order to do that, he would have put himself in harm's way and in the line of fire of the suspect," he said Sunday night.

At first, residents in the area were told to lock their doors and turn off their lights. Then about 10 p.m., officers began evacuating homes.

At about 11:30 p.m., the suspect was spotted behind the home. Applegate said the suspect "initiated a gunfight."

The suspect was shot in the alley. His name or condition were not available early this morning.

Both officers have been members of the Ceres police department for several years.

The streets around the area of both shootings were still closed today.

Parents of students at Caswell Elementary School, one block north of the shooting, were told to drop their children off in front of the school Monday morning.

[Eric 951]

So, Red--knowing your disdain for both the police and the military--who do you think is the bad guy here?

[Mule]

George Bush

[red ufo]

Modbee.com
Cop, Gunman Dead

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By PATRICK GIBLIN
BEE STAFF WRITER

CERES — It started as a seemingly simple and somewhat routine call Sunday night: a man was acting strangely at a liquor store.

Moments later, a burst of gunfire echoed through the normally quiet neighborhood. One Ceres police officer lay dying, another was critically wounded, and law enforcement was storming the scene by land and air.

Helicopters hovered above as police ordered people to go inside, lock their doors and turn off the lights.

Three hours later, another gun battle erupted, this one ending in the death of a 19-year-old Marine from Modesto,suspected of shooting the two officers.

Altogether, police and neighbors said Monday, dozens of bullets flew, shattering windows and piercing vehicles as residents hunkered down in terror.

"Brap-brap-brap-brap-brap," said Anthony John Phillips, a 15-year-old boy who lives a block away, trying to describe the rapid gunfire. "I was scared. It was crazy."

In the end:


Ceres police Sgt. Howard Stevenson, 39, was dead.

Andres Raya, who police say seemed determined to die rather than return to Iraq, was dead.

Ceres police officer Sam Ryno, 50, was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. He was in critical condition Monday, and is expected to recover.
Monday, detectives from sev-eral law enforcement agencies — from the Ceres police to the FBI — sifted through events leading to Sunday's carnage.

Officers were still struggling to figure out what drove Raya to fire on officers.

"It was premeditated, planned, an ambush," Ceres Police Chief Art de Werk said. "It was a suicide by cop."

De Werk said investigators are not ruling out other motives or accomplices, but believe that Raya, a Marine who had served seven months in Iraq, was concerned about the possibility of going back into combat.

Raya returned to the United States in September and recently visited his family in Modesto.

Julia Cortez Raya said Monday that her son served in Fallujah: "He came back different."

Raya told family members he did not want to return to Iraq. But his father said the family believed by the end of his holiday visit, Raya had decided to make the best of the 2½ years he had left in the Marines.

He rejoined his unit at Camp Pendleton on Jan. 2. Sheriff's Lt. Bill Heyne said Raya was last seen at Camp Pendleton Saturday.

He reportedly told fellow soldiers he was going to get a quick bite to eat. Instead, he showed up in Ceres 24 hours later, armed with an SKS assault rifle. The rifle is a Chinese version of the weapon that Raya was trained to use in the Marines, Heyne said.

Video cameras catch carnage

The first moments of the three-hour drama were caught by video cameras at George's Liquors, 2125 Caswell Ave., near Central Avenue.

The tape shows Raya firing one round into the pavement of the store's parking lot. He then walks into the store.

According to police, Raya told the clerk that he had just been shot at and asked the clerk to call 911, Heyne said.

Steven Marchant, working at the store Sunday night, said he was standing in front of the store when he saw Raya walking toward him from across the street about 8 p.m. Raya was wearing a poncho and yelling "how much he hated the world," Marchant said.

Marchant recognized Raya as a friend of the owner's brother and a regular customer.

Marchant went into the store when Raya stopped at the front door and asked him to call police.

Another employee tried to calm Raya down. Then the employee realized Raya had a gun under the poncho. After Raya walked out, the employees locked the door and called police.

Raya waited outside, a surveillance videotape shows.

About 8:07 p.m., about two minutes after the call, Ryno and a police trainee pulled up into the parking lot of Jiro Tires Plus, a neighboring business that faces Central Avenue. The trainee's name was not released.

As the two officers peered around the corner of a building to locate Raya, a third officer pulled into the same parking lot. Raya opened fire on all three, hitting Ryno — who had stepped out from behind the building — several times in the leg and once in the lower back.

Raya then rushed the trainee, firing several times but missing. The trainee and the third officer, whose name was not released, shot back.

Raya ducked around the corner of George's. After a few seconds, he saw Stevenson pull up in front of the liquor store. Raya opened fire again, shooting through the window of a white car in the parking lot and hitting Stevenson.

He then ran out of view of the camera.

Stevenson, lying injured on the ground, was shot twice in the back of the head, Heyne said.

Witnesses: Raya appeared calm

"I was walking in my back yard to use my spa when I heard a horrible grinding noise," said Norm Travis, whose home is on Glenwood Drive, around the corner from George's.

"Then an alarm went off and there was a bunch of yelling and screaming and then another round of shots," he said.

"We knew that it was an automatic weapon," said his wife, Karen Travis.

Witnesses told police that after shooting the officers, Raya calmly walked east on Caswell and disappeared, either into a house or a back yard.

Within minutes, officers from the Ceres, Modesto, Turlock and Newman police departments, as well as the Stanislaus and Merced sheriff's offices and the California Highway Patrol, responded.

Nearly one square mile of the city's streets were closed as a CHP helicopter hovered and police officers and SWAT teams took positions around the neighborhood.

Police officers began shooting out street lights to diminish Raya's vision, officers said.

Residents were told to lock their doors and turn off their lights, said Kim Rose, 25, who lives about one block from the liquor store. She had been in the store about 20 minutes before the shooting.

"We heard a lot of gunfire, and I mean a lot of gunfire," Rose said. "Then a few minutes later, police were walking up and down the street with guns drawn, yelling for everyone to go back in their houses."

George Newton, who lives two blocks from the store on Beachwood Drive, said his 42-year-old daughter was visiting him when the neighborhood was locked down. She wasn't allowed to leave the home.

"She slept on my couch last night," Newton said. "She was stuck here until 4:30 a.m."

Some neighbors evacuated

Across the street, the Garcia family was evacuated. Their home was believed to be directly behind the home in which Raya was hiding. Members of a SWAT team took over the Garcia's house, Kandy Garcia said, positioning themselves in her back yard and on her neighbor's bal-cony.

"They were nice and professional but very firm and matter-of-fact," Garcia said. "They said we had to leave now."

She grabbed her four children and stayed the night at her mother's house.

The CHP helicopter beamed its light into the yards of homes on the south side of Beachwood and north side of Caswell.

After about two hours, officers began a slow house-to-house search, according to a press release issued Monday.

"Our poor neighbors across the street were evacuated, so they locked their doors," Norm Travis said. "Then about an hour later, the SWAT team broke down their front door to search for the suspect."

About 11:08 p.m., Raya jumped over a backyard fence from a home on Caswell and ended up in an alley between Glenwood and Myrtlewood drives.

Police say he fired at four officers who were positioned at the Glenwood end of the alley, about 100 yards away. The officers fired back and struck him multiple times.

He dropped his rifle but started running toward them. He motioned as if he was going for a second weapon, officers said, so they continued to fire.

He fell to the ground and died at the scene.

His body was still in the alley Monday afternoon as investigators worked the scene.

Police said that an exact number of rounds fired by Raya and police had not been determined Monday evening, but it was probably more than 60.

Police also released the liquor store video tape. De Werk said he wanted the public to see the tape so they could understand not only what happened but "what's really going on in the world."

[RANDY P]

And what does cut and paste mean again?

[red ufo]

Randy that means your a republican?

[BigD9146gt]

Didn't a Marine shoot JFK?
Didn't a few Marines fight against the Nazis, Japs and Saddam? Just to name a few... to keep tirony from making you a slave. Without the Marines, and the rest of the US armed forces, do you think its safe to say that you would not be here without the actions that they have sacraficed for in the past.
Red, whats your goal in life? Cause this is pretty sad

[widebody911]

Originally posted by BigD9146gt
Didn't a Marine shoot JFK?

No; he was framed, which is why they had to kill him.

[widebody911]

Both men had been shot several times with an automatic rifle.

But it's every citizen's right to own one of these, 'cause you need them for hunting.

[Eric 951]

Originally posted by widebody911
Both men had been shot several times with an automatic rifle.

But it's every citizen's right to own one of these, 'cause you need them for hunting.

Around here it is still illegeal to hunt with a semi-auto rifle. Semi-auto shotgun is okay.

It is every law-abiding citizen's right to own whatever weapons are legally available for purchase.

Some guns are for hunting--.270, 20 ga O/U
Some guns are for protection--sig sauer .380
Some guns are beautiful pieces of engineering to look at--Luger
Some guns are for shooting--.22 LR

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

There are people with mental problems everywhere. They are born everyday. Some live "normal" lives for a time then "lose it." Others are lost to the "mainstream society" from day one.

You cannot take one person's actions and place that to the entire sub-group of a society! Not every Southener owns a pick-up. Not every pick-up owner is a Southener. Not every service member who served in a combat zone is going crazy nor do they need to be locked up and kept away from society.

Before you bash a person's hobby (I would assume that one of our shared hobbies is Porsches) you should look at the harm it does to society and wether that society has decided the hobby is proper/legal. Public smoking is a recognized hazard to all non-smokers. Illegal drugs take up societies resources, remove persons from being a productive member of that society, draw away government's tax income, increase crime rates in affected areas, etc. Alcohol kills brain cells and robs a person's ability to contribute to society over time. Knives and swords provide wonderful, and easily concealed, methods of doing harm to our fellow human beings. Automobiles are involved in the deaths of more persons in LA county in an average month than guns are in the entire country in an entire year, removing any police shootings.

As a society, we jointly decide what is right and moral. If enough people wish a change, things will change through our election processes. If enough people do not wish a change...

Anyone who "needs" the ability to fire multiple rounds per minute in order to harvest a deer does NOT need to own a weapon, IMHO. I do rather well with two .44 rounds in my rifle. I do like going to a controlled area and shooting...edit automatic/semi-automatic weapons edit...and can say it is fun to fire automatic weapons, though I personally prefer single action revolvers.

Maybe I shouldn't be hanging in this forum...

[67nin11]

this proves it..... crazy marines don't want to go to iraq!

[speeder]

I'm not real clear on what the implied commentary is here, but it sounds like a Marine lost his mind and started shooting people. Am I missing something deeper??

It's well known that many service people are unhappy about their combat tours being extended, (particularly NG members), but this is a case of someone w/ profound mental health issues that somehow made it through the cracks until the day that he flipped.

[Eric 951]

Originally posted by speeder
I'm not real clear on what the implied commentary is here, but it sounds like a Marine lost his mind and started shooting people. Am I missing something deeper??

It's well known that many service people are unhappy about their combat tours being extended, (particularly NG members), but this is a case of someone w/ profound mental health issues that somehow made it through the cracks until the day that he flipped.

Denis--that is too rational an explanation. It is easier(and somehow more profound) to blame GW.

Like right now it is raining--damn you George!

[speeder]

Well, actually I do blame GWB for the war, and hence the casualties and extended tours, but to blame him for this guy's cracked mind is a bit of a stretch, IMO. Most Marines are healthy people, physically and mentally, but my best friend who was in Viet Nam has told me about some exceptions.

[Jeff Higgins]

This is a horrible tragedy no matter how you look at it. I really feel for the families of the officers involved, and the family of the poor kid that so obviously lost it. Everyone touched by this will carry the scars forever. I'm not sure what exactly the point was for bringing it up here; we can get news directly from news sources. Most of us post these kinds of stories to try to make a point about something, and try to clearly state whatever that point is. Red, I'm sorry, but I must be a little on the slow side - I can't find where you stated your point, and I'm obviously not bright enough to guess what it might be. So, what exactly are you trying to tell us here?

[Mule]

"There are people with mental problems everywhere."

IE red

[red ufo]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
This is a horrible tragedy no matter how you look at it. I really feel for the families of the officers involved, and the family of the poor kid that so obviously lost it. Everyone touched by this will carry the scars forever. I'm not sure what exactly the point was for bringing it up here; we can get news directly from news sources. Most of us post these kinds of stories to try to make a point about something, and try to clearly state whatever that point is. Red, I'm sorry, but I must be a little on the slow side - I can't find where you stated your point, and I'm obviously not bright enough to guess what it might be. So, what exactly are you trying to tell us here?

Why does there have to be a point? When Mule posts his KKK stuff what is his point?

You want a point here is one.

This rarely happens. You can probably count on your hands how many times a marine has gone postal in the last 50 years. If you ask me that is a pretty good statement about how good the marines are. For every 500,000 marines you might have 1 with mental problems and when the person went nuts they sure can bring in carnage in a way the average person can't.

The marines are our modern day ninjas or jedi warriors. Its interesting when one becomes a sith and goes nuts because its a rare event. Compare that to postal workers or bad cops. Its easy to find a bad cop, probably a 1/3 are IMHO. Size that up against marines and you got 1/500,000. So when one goes bad its an event!

[Jeff Higgins]

Hmmm... I guess I have never made the connection that a MARINE went bad. To me, it's a YOUNG MAN that had problems who happened to be a Marine. The Marine Corps had nothing to do with it. I have never linked this kind of an event to the perpertrator's occupation as an influencing factor in why they did it. For example, we had our infamous Green River Killer here in the Pacific Northwest who murdered dozens of women over the course of a decade or more. He was a truck painter. Is that related or significant in any way? Probably not. So while this was a horrible tragedy, I dissagree that it was any more of an "event" just because he was a Marine.

[red ufo]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Hmmm... I guess I have never made the connection that a MARINE went bad. To me, it's a YOUNG MAN that had problems who happened to be a Marine. The Marine Corps had nothing to do with it. I have never linked this kind of an event to the perpertrator's occupation as an influencing factor in why they did it. For example, we had our infamous Green River Killer here in the Pacific Northwest who murdered dozens of women over the course of a decade or more. He was a truck painter. Is that related or significant in any way? Probably not. So while this was a horrible tragedy, I dissagree that it was any more of an "event" just because he was a Marine.

Because of their training the Marine can make it an event. Such as DC sniper, JFK, OKC, Bell tower sniper.

The average joe can't level this much destruction. A marine with a butter knife can do more damage than a redneck with a M16.