40-year old Cristian Eugenio Medina Méndez, suffering from depression and under the influence of alcohol, is suspect to have killed the head of the Swat unit of the National Police on Sunday, 8 December 2019 that entered the Medina family dwelling to intervene in a domestic violence incident. The Criminal Affairs Agency of the Police (Dicrim) and Swat had responded to a 911 Emergency Services call. The event occurred at a house at Calle Santa Cecilia in Urbanización Los Rosales in El Tamarindo of eastern Santo Domingo.
The Swat team had launched tear gas grenades to enter the house. First Lieutenant Juan Mercedes Vasquez head of the Swat team was killed in the incident. It is unclear whether he died from shots fired by his own men or was shot by Medina.
Ana Cristina Medina, sister of the victim, denied that her brother had killed the Swat officer. There is speculation he could have been injured by the Swat team members. Medina said the surveillance camera located in a nearby colmado was gunned down by the agents. She acknowledged her brother had economic and family families and had been drinking intensely for days, but she denied he had kidnapped the family. She said her father had a clash with a niece that resulted in the 911 intervention.
The body of Medina Mendez was found in the bathroom of the house bathed in blood. The body was taken to the Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif) for the autopsy.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Listin Diario
El Caribe
9 December 2019