Teenage war veteran committed suicide 'by cop'
A teenage Iraq war veteran committed “suicide by cop” rather than return to the front line, a California police chief said today.
Marine Andres Raya, whom police say seemed determined to die, gunned down and killed one policeman in Ceres, a small town south of San Francisco, and critically wounded another with an assault rifle before a three hour siege ensued.
It ended in a hail of bullets and Raya, who had served in Fallujah, lay dead.
“It was premeditated, planned, an ambush,” Ceres Police Chief Art de Werk said. “It was a suicide by cop.”
De Werk said investigators believe that Raya, 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. His mother Julia said: “He came back different.”
