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Andres Raya's Parents Meet with Ceres Police
Flags lowered in Sacramento as state mourns killed police officer, no consideration of young man whose life was ruined by military service. Cops claim Raya was in a gang, his family says otherwise.
Marine's parents meet Ceres police
Effort to 'begin the healing' starts at scene of the crime
DEBBIE NODA/ THE BEE
Andres Raya's mother, Julia, holds a picture of her son while sitting next to her husband, Thomas.
DEBBIE NODA/ THE BEE
DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE
photo: A makeshift memorial has sprung up at the Ceres Police Department honoring Sgt. Howard Stevenson.
DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE
By JOEL HOOD
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: January 12, 2005, 04:21:23 PM PST
CERES — Andres Raya's parents prayed Tuesday morning in the liquor store parking lot where, 36 hours earlier, their Marine son shot and killed a police officer and wounded another.
A law enforcement spokesman said officer Sam Ryno's condition had improved from critical to serious. Sgt. Howard Stevenson was the officer who was killed.
Tuesday night, more than 200 people gathered for a town hall meeting where Stanislaus County sheriff's Lt. Bill Heyne said authorities had yet to establish a motive for Raya's rampage, but added they do know "he wanted to die, he didn't want to go back to Iraq."
Because of rain, Raya's parents decided not to walk from the liquor store to the alley where police shot and killed their 19-year-old son in an exchange of gunfire Sunday night.
From the liquor store, the family went to a meeting with Ceres police. Raya's parents wanted to clear the air about their son's alleged gang ties, said Rosie Alvarez, Raya's cousin. And, Alvarez said, Raya's parents wanted to "begin the healing process."
Police declined to talk about the meeting. Alvarez described it as "emotional" and "tense" as both sides sought to understand why an Iraq war veteran would gun down police officers after apparently luring them to the liquor store.
It happened just after 8 p.m. Sunday in front of George's Liquors on Caswell Avenue. Raya had asked liquor store employees to call police, saying someone had shot at him.
Surveillance video shows Raya pacing as he waited for police. He pulled a rifle from under his poncho and shot Ryno, then fired at Stevenson.
The slain officer was 39 and a 20-year veteran of the Ceres Police Department.
Ryno, 50, remained hospitalized at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Tuesday, he was talking to fellow police officers as well as family members.
Graffiti at crime scene
Tuesday morning, Raya's family attended Mass before going to George's Liquors and the next-door tire shop, still riddled with bullet holes.
Spray-painted graffiti, much of it anti-police, appeared on both businesses and the supermarket across the street overnight, said deputy Jason Woodman, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.
"There will always be people who will take advantage of an opportunity to benefit themselves and there are always going to be people opposed to law enforcement," Woodman said.
The Rev. Dean McFalls, who formerly served at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Ceres and is a friend of the Raya family, called the graffiti "despicable" and said it devastated the family.
"It was really, really hard to see that," said McFalls, who went to the liquor store parking lot with the family. "There is absolutely no excuse to do something like that."
Much of the graffiti had been painted over by midday. Among the remaining graffiti was a statement that simply read: "RIP Andy," the name Raya often was called by friends.
At the Police Department later that morning, a makeshift memorial grew as people dropped off flowers and photos of the two officers.
Alvarez, Raya's cousin, said police suspected Raya had gang affiliations, based on his tattoos. She acknowledged that she had not seen the tattoos, but said other family members told her that the tattoos signified "Latino and Chicano pride."
"It was a display of honor for our culture," she said. "He was not a banger. That just wasn't him."
Raya's parents said Monday that their son, when he came home for Christmas and New Year's, indicated that he did not want to go back to Iraq.
He served there for seven months, returning to the states in September, according to his family. They said he served in Fallujah.
A family member who asked not to be identified said Raya's parents never allowed guns in their home, so it was unlikely that Raya had owned the assault rifle used in the shooting for very long.
It was not a Marine-issued weapon, authorities said.
Raya used an SKS assault rifle, and it had been illegally modified with a detachable magazine, said Woodman.
He said investigators were trying to determine where Raya had obtained the weapon and could not rule out that he had an accomplice.
"We're talking to people he knew, we're talking about anything that turns up," Woodman said. "But so far we don't know much."
In an e-mail, a man identifying himself as a Marine and longtime friend of Raya's, said Raya could not have hidden the rifle at Camp Pendleton, because military police often do random checks of barracks.
The e-mailer, who asked not to be identified, said Raya served as a motor vehicle operator. And he seemed to change during his time in the Marines.
"Before he joined, he was very motivated," the e-mail stated. "The first time I saw him back (from Iraq), he wasn't so motivated. He cracked negative jokes about people who were serious. … He was negative towards the Marines. He still seemed like the same guy, he just had a hard time."
Bee staff writer Joel Hood can be reached at 238-4574 or jhood [at] modbee.com.
AT A GLANCE
FLAGS LOWERED: Gov. Schwarzenegger on Tuesday ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of Howard Stevenson, the Ceres police sergeant shot and killed in the line of duty Sunday night. "Law enforcement officers risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure our safety and wellbeing," the governor said in a prepared statement. "The bravery in the line of duty that officer Stevenson exhibited will not be forgotten, and his courage, commitment and ultimate sacrifice to make California a safer place are deeply appreciated. Maria and I would like to send our condolences to the family and loved ones of officer Stevenson during this time of mourning."
BLOOD DRIVE: The Ceres Police Department is urging people to donate blood in the name of officer Sam Ryno, who was wounded in the same gunfight that claimed Sg. Howard Stevenson's life. An account is set up at Delta Blood Bank and people can donate at branches in Ceres, Modesto and Turlock. For more information, including hours, call 888-94BLOOD.
TRIBUTES: The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors opened its Tuesday morning meeting with a moment of silence for slain Ceres police Sgt. Howard Stevenson and wounded officer Sam Ryno. Tuesday night, just before adjourning the Modesto City Council meeting, Mayor Jim Ridenour asked everyone in the chamber to stand for a moment of silence in Stevenson's memory. The Turlock City Council called for a moment of silence for Stevenson. Also, police Chaplain Richard Roberts, in giving the invocation that started the Turlock meeting, prayed for Stevenson and Ryno and the Ceres community.
Effort to 'begin the healing' starts at scene of the crime
DEBBIE NODA/ THE BEE
Andres Raya's mother, Julia, holds a picture of her son while sitting next to her husband, Thomas.
DEBBIE NODA/ THE BEE
DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE
photo: A makeshift memorial has sprung up at the Ceres Police Department honoring Sgt. Howard Stevenson.
DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE
By JOEL HOOD
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: January 12, 2005, 04:21:23 PM PST
CERES — Andres Raya's parents prayed Tuesday morning in the liquor store parking lot where, 36 hours earlier, their Marine son shot and killed a police officer and wounded another.
A law enforcement spokesman said officer Sam Ryno's condition had improved from critical to serious. Sgt. Howard Stevenson was the officer who was killed.
Tuesday night, more than 200 people gathered for a town hall meeting where Stanislaus County sheriff's Lt. Bill Heyne said authorities had yet to establish a motive for Raya's rampage, but added they do know "he wanted to die, he didn't want to go back to Iraq."
Because of rain, Raya's parents decided not to walk from the liquor store to the alley where police shot and killed their 19-year-old son in an exchange of gunfire Sunday night.
From the liquor store, the family went to a meeting with Ceres police. Raya's parents wanted to clear the air about their son's alleged gang ties, said Rosie Alvarez, Raya's cousin. And, Alvarez said, Raya's parents wanted to "begin the healing process."
Police declined to talk about the meeting. Alvarez described it as "emotional" and "tense" as both sides sought to understand why an Iraq war veteran would gun down police officers after apparently luring them to the liquor store.
It happened just after 8 p.m. Sunday in front of George's Liquors on Caswell Avenue. Raya had asked liquor store employees to call police, saying someone had shot at him.
Surveillance video shows Raya pacing as he waited for police. He pulled a rifle from under his poncho and shot Ryno, then fired at Stevenson.
The slain officer was 39 and a 20-year veteran of the Ceres Police Department.
Ryno, 50, remained hospitalized at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. Tuesday, he was talking to fellow police officers as well as family members.
Graffiti at crime scene
Tuesday morning, Raya's family attended Mass before going to George's Liquors and the next-door tire shop, still riddled with bullet holes.
Spray-painted graffiti, much of it anti-police, appeared on both businesses and the supermarket across the street overnight, said deputy Jason Woodman, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.
"There will always be people who will take advantage of an opportunity to benefit themselves and there are always going to be people opposed to law enforcement," Woodman said.
The Rev. Dean McFalls, who formerly served at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Ceres and is a friend of the Raya family, called the graffiti "despicable" and said it devastated the family.
"It was really, really hard to see that," said McFalls, who went to the liquor store parking lot with the family. "There is absolutely no excuse to do something like that."
Much of the graffiti had been painted over by midday. Among the remaining graffiti was a statement that simply read: "RIP Andy," the name Raya often was called by friends.
At the Police Department later that morning, a makeshift memorial grew as people dropped off flowers and photos of the two officers.
Alvarez, Raya's cousin, said police suspected Raya had gang affiliations, based on his tattoos. She acknowledged that she had not seen the tattoos, but said other family members told her that the tattoos signified "Latino and Chicano pride."
"It was a display of honor for our culture," she said. "He was not a banger. That just wasn't him."
Raya's parents said Monday that their son, when he came home for Christmas and New Year's, indicated that he did not want to go back to Iraq.
He served there for seven months, returning to the states in September, according to his family. They said he served in Fallujah.
A family member who asked not to be identified said Raya's parents never allowed guns in their home, so it was unlikely that Raya had owned the assault rifle used in the shooting for very long.
It was not a Marine-issued weapon, authorities said.
Raya used an SKS assault rifle, and it had been illegally modified with a detachable magazine, said Woodman.
He said investigators were trying to determine where Raya had obtained the weapon and could not rule out that he had an accomplice.
"We're talking to people he knew, we're talking about anything that turns up," Woodman said. "But so far we don't know much."
In an e-mail, a man identifying himself as a Marine and longtime friend of Raya's, said Raya could not have hidden the rifle at Camp Pendleton, because military police often do random checks of barracks.
The e-mailer, who asked not to be identified, said Raya served as a motor vehicle operator. And he seemed to change during his time in the Marines.
"Before he joined, he was very motivated," the e-mail stated. "The first time I saw him back (from Iraq), he wasn't so motivated. He cracked negative jokes about people who were serious. … He was negative towards the Marines. He still seemed like the same guy, he just had a hard time."
Bee staff writer Joel Hood can be reached at 238-4574 or jhood [at] modbee.com.
AT A GLANCE
FLAGS LOWERED: Gov. Schwarzenegger on Tuesday ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of Howard Stevenson, the Ceres police sergeant shot and killed in the line of duty Sunday night. "Law enforcement officers risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure our safety and wellbeing," the governor said in a prepared statement. "The bravery in the line of duty that officer Stevenson exhibited will not be forgotten, and his courage, commitment and ultimate sacrifice to make California a safer place are deeply appreciated. Maria and I would like to send our condolences to the family and loved ones of officer Stevenson during this time of mourning."
BLOOD DRIVE: The Ceres Police Department is urging people to donate blood in the name of officer Sam Ryno, who was wounded in the same gunfight that claimed Sg. Howard Stevenson's life. An account is set up at Delta Blood Bank and people can donate at branches in Ceres, Modesto and Turlock. For more information, including hours, call 888-94BLOOD.
TRIBUTES: The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors opened its Tuesday morning meeting with a moment of silence for slain Ceres police Sgt. Howard Stevenson and wounded officer Sam Ryno. Tuesday night, just before adjourning the Modesto City Council meeting, Mayor Jim Ridenour asked everyone in the chamber to stand for a moment of silence in Stevenson's memory. The Turlock City Council called for a moment of silence for Stevenson. Also, police Chaplain Richard Roberts, in giving the invocation that started the Turlock meeting, prayed for Stevenson and Ryno and the Ceres community.
For more information:
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/9753615p...
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Network and cable TV shows repeatedly broadcast video and photo stills of Raya's Jan. 9 bloody gun battle in a Ceres, Calif., liquor store. Mental health experts immediately blamed post-traumatic stress disorder. Ignoring the cold-blooded murder of one of the ambushed police officers who was lured to his death, international headlines instead trumpeted the supposedly traumatized Raya:
Teenage War Veteran Committed Suicide 'By Cop'
Marine 'Committed Suicide by Cop to Avoid Iraq Return'
Kin of Marine Who Shot Policemen Ask if He Is a Casualty of War
Young Camp Pendleton Marine who shot officers did not want to go back to Iraq.
A far Left Web site, San Francisco Bay Area Indymedia.org, posted a complaint that the California legislature -- which lowered its flags to honor slain cop Sgt. Howard Stevenson -- was showing "no consideration [for the] young man whose life was ruined by military service."
La Voz de Aztlan, a radical fringe publication by Mexican nationalists, lionized Raya and demonized police:
"One can only speculate what horrors Andres Raya experienced in Fallujah. The slaughter by U.S. occupation forces of Iraqi civilians in Fallujah has been compared to the slaughter in Guernica by Nazi forces in 1937. Many U.S. Marines with a conscious (sic) have found it very difficult to reconcile the Iraqi civilian murders in their minds and have committed suicide. U.S. Marine Andres Raya decided to take some cops with him. Most probably he was harassed by them while growing up Mexican in this small northern California town." The paper also lambasted Raya's hometown, Ceres, as "a redneck town notorious for its mistreatment of his people."
Writing in the anti-war publication CounterPunch, Jack Random lamented Raya's death as "symbolic of the untold story of war. Hundreds of thousands of trained killers survive combat only to come home to a life for which they are no longer prepared. They have seen what men and women should never see. They have engaged in operations that brought them face to face with the death of innocent civilians, women and children."
The only elements missing in the bleeding-heart coverage of Raya's story were the soundtrack to "Platoon" and a bulk order of Kleenex. There's just one thing wrong with the sympathetic spin about the anti-war Marine. It's all dead wrong.
This much is true about Raya: The 19-year-old man did in fact serve with the Marines' 1st Intelligence Battalion's motor transport unit as a driver in Iraq.
But contrary to the impression left by initial media reports, Raya had never seen combat. And he was not headed back to Iraq. He had been transferred to a new unit scheduled for deployment to Okinawa. "During our investigation, we found he wasn't due to go back to Iraq, never faced combat situations and never even fired his gun," Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Woodman said.
Raya was high on cocaine at the time of the ambush, according to police reports. He was reportedly affiliated with the prison gang Nuestra Familia. Investigators found photos of Raya wearing gang colors and a shopping list in his bedroom safe that included body armor, assault rifles and ammunition. Authorities also discovered a video showing Raya smoking what appears to be marijuana and making gang sign gestures. The tape showed desecrated pieces of the American flag laid on a gymnasium floor to spell out expletives directed at President Bush.
Family members deny Raya's gang ties and blame the military. Meanwhile, Raya's neighborhood was decorated with anti-cop graffiti such as "Kill the Pigs" in his memory. And militant Hispanic residents celebrate Raya. Ceres resident Hilda Mercado told The New York Times that Raya "died like a true Mexican: He died standing on his feet."
The question isn't what got into Raya when he entered the military. The question is why and how Raya -- who police say had a propensity for violence well before he joined the Marines -- got into our military in the first place.
And now you know the rest of the story.
other job, that fact that he joined the military during these times proves he had guts. Let this be a warning to police across the country that when they cross a certain line when dealing with civilians, a badge just doesn't amount to anything,
PERIOD. Too bad the cops here don't have to face a well armed and motivated enemy here as our boys in Iraq more
often. Police brutality would almost cease to exist.
FUCK THIS COPS! REMEMBER RODNEY? REMEMBER THE MAN THAT GOT SHOOT LIKE 50 TIMES IN NY?
REMEMBER ALL THE PEOPLE PIGS KILL EVERYDAY?
JUST CUZ THEY THINK THEY CAN CUZ A FUCKIN BATCH AND A UNIFORM? THEY KILL EVERYDAY WITH IMPUNITY!
AS A MATTER OF FACT NO ONLY COPS BUT THE "LAW" IT SELF IS A PIECE OF SHIT!
REMEMBER THE YOUNG BLACK DUDE THAT GOT STAB TO DEATH IN SF A FEW WEEKS AGO? WHERE IS THE
WHITE, YEAH LETME SAY IT AGAIN, WHERE IS THE WHITE BITCH THAT KILLED HIM?????? SHE IS FREE!!!!!
FREEE!!! YEAH! SO WHAT? FUCK EM ALL TOO BAD THIS MARINE DIDN'T TOOK A FEW D.A.'S AND SOME C.E.O.'S WITH HIM, BUT FUCK IT AT LEAST HE SERVE TWO PIGS!
NOW YOU FUCKING PIGS READING THIS SHIT KNOW! WE HATE U MOTHAFUKAS, WE DON'T NEED YOU PIGS TO BE PATROLING US IN THE GUETTOS ARRESTING US FOR SELLING THE DOPE THAT THE D.E.A. DISTRIBUITE TO US ANYWAY, WE DONT NEED YALL TAKING US TO JAIL FOR GUN POSSESION, A GUN THAT THE GOVERNMENT GAVE US, AND WE DON'T NEED YALL MTF'S TO TAKE OUR PEOPLE TO JAIL FOR BEEING ADDICTS TO THE DRUGS YOU GIVE THEM! SO FUCK YOU PIGS!
For all those who say he didn't fire a gun, they don't have the right to say a damn thing about anything. If they only knew.
People can't understand why he changed? It's when he sees what's really going on and knows the truth, knows that Bush has sent out people like him to handle what he can't do on his own: to murder innocent people because someone pissed his daddy off a long time ago and because oil means $$money$$...
Andy may have never fired his gun; if he didn't, good for him. But this is what he saw:
http://www.aztlan.net/fallujah_guernica.htm
Rest in Peace Andy; find the peace no one would allow you in life. Only God can judge you now.
The October 22nd Coalition is a nationwide organization that works to expose murder by the cops. Sadly, what happened to your cousin is not all that uncommon, and we need to be telling the cops to stop killing our loved ones.
We are working on the next edition of the Stolen Lives book and would love to get a description of who he was and how he died that was written by a family member.
Thanks! Feel free to email me at the above address.
.R.I.P ANDY WE KNOW U LOOKIN DOWN AT US
OnLy GoD CaN JuDgE YoU
I know alot of decent heardworking (and educated) latinos and they don' t pull out assualt rifles and kill people because they can't cope.....this man was a coward who did nothing but ruin the lives of several families including his own.
I say good riddens for someone like that and I for one am glad he's not defending america in Iraqany longer...........I wonder how long it would have taken him to turn the guns on our own soldiers........coward!
Rest in Peace Andy. I know how life is a struggle
Oso de San Jo Califas Aztlan Norte 14 c\s y que
nune of you know anything or shit ABOUT HIM. only his family and friends know things ur all gay and should go to hell. Fuck Bush, Perry, and Ceres Police
..::reSt iN peaCe pRimO::..
i loOve yoOoh!!
Then we were deployed to Iraq.
After those civilian contractors charred bodies were hung from the bridge, it was like we were ordered to take revenge. We moved in to Fallujah. Our orders did not make sense from a military stratagy perspective. To put it plainly, we terrorrized the civillians there. I say we, as in I was ordered to secure certain locations and there were unarmed civilians, non combatants under our control that we were ordered to kill.
I did my tour, and did not re up when the time came.
I hope that some day God will forgive me for not being strong enough to disobey orders and take my punishment for that.
He was no hero in the Marine Corps, as anyone who was in a year has those minor medals.
He was a gangster with low self-esteem and no self-respect. He has dishonored, himself, his family and La Raza.
Look at all the true brave Hispanic-Americans serving their country and community, that is true pride, honor, service and respect.
As for the gangsters, bring it on, so we can take you out. Pathetic Losers.
My dad's friend was taken out of his car and put in handcuffs just for having brown skin and a tattoo! This man is affiliated with NO GANGS WHATSOEVER, just a hardworking Chicano who lives for his family. And I believe that Andy was affiliated with no gangs, as his family says. They should know, they are his family!
I know countless more Chicanos who are mistreated by the police over here in Modesto and Ceres on a daily basis, including a false police report and forged signature to incriminate an innocent Modesto Chicano.
Things like this WILL NOT STOP unless we CHICANOS(not Hispanic or Latino) stand up and unite.
To all my brothers and sisters, come together.
To all those who bang PUT DOWN THE RAGS AND GUNS AND PICK UP THE BOOKS AND PICKET SIGNS, we can't keep killing each other.
Chicano solidarity will lead to our freedom.
Mexicatl Tiahui.
R.I.P ANDY
WE ALL LOVE U
Fuck the police and the Government.
Those are the people who need to be held responsible.
when i heard about this in my last year overseas, i couldnt believe it. one of my boys killed by some fucking cops.
but when i came home, i realized why Andy did what he did. And truth be told, out in my neck of cali I even considered doing the same thing.
a few weeks before i came home, one of my MP buddies was gunned down by san bernardino county sherriffs. He was outnumbered, unarmed, and out-gunned, he stated to the police with hands up that he was a military police man, and that he would cooperate and just to please surrender their firearms. NOW YOU FUCKING PIGS LISTEN TO ME AND LISTEN GOOD. IF SOMEONE ELSE WHO IS TRUSTED TO ENFORCE GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE AND IS A COMPETANT PERSON THEN YOU GIVE HIM THE RESPECT HE IS ASKING FOR. MPS HAVE AN ACQUIRED RESPECT FOR THE LAW, AND THAT SHOULD BE NOTED.
the bastards blew chunks out of him as soon as he exited his vehicle.
he never lived to hit the concrete.
when i came home, i was constantly slammed on the hood of my car for what cops told me was being suspect....oh im sorry, im 23 years old, served my fucking country in war time, seen combat, and came home and tried to make a life for myself. just because i drove a jaguar, they always pointed that i was in no position to drive such a car. who the fuck are you to tell me what i cant drive? this shit has been going on for years now, and im rightfully fucking sick of it.....you fucking cops want to demonize the military, and say shit about gangbangers in the military? pretty soon its gonna be hell on these streets, just wait. You keep fucking with the wrong goddamn people and pretty soon we are gonna start lobbing grenades into your squad cars and sniping you bastards for the blood you spilled behind the blue wall of silence.
and if you think this goes against everything the military teaches, then fuck you.....i served my time....honorably. I did my time alongside men who believed in doing good....honorably.....and if i go to war with a cop because the bastard fucked with the wrong soldier...over stupid reasons.....reasons that cannot be justified by any law manual. then i will fight, kill, and if it happens, die....HONORABLY.
you all miss the fucking point im sure, but ill say it again.....the police....you motherfuckers better think twice when someone reveals their veteran status while your treating them like second class shit. Your only putting nails in your own coffins doing that shit.
im out. rest in peace andy, semper fi.