CERES — The 19-year-old Marine who gunned down two police officers was a Norteño gang member who plotted a deadly attack on police, not a veteran suffering the stress of war, investigators said Friday.
A toxicology report shows that Andres Raya was high on cocaine Sunday night when he shot and killed 39-year-old Sgt. Howard Stevenson and severely injured officer Sam Ryno, 49, outside George's Liquors on Caswell Avenue.
Information presented at a Friday news conference contrasted sharply with the image that police and Raya's family initially portrayed of the young man, that of a traumatized soldier who snapped and committed "suicide by cop."
"The easy answer to this would be to blame it on Iraq," said the lead investigator, Lt. Bill Heyne of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.
But he said an investigation into Raya's background showed that he harbored violent tendencies and an anti-government attitude long before he went to war.
Raya, a lance corporal who worked as a Humvee driver, did not engage in combat during seven months in Iraq, Heyne said. But Raya saw a fellow Marine suffer a leg injury when a bomb exploded under a vehicle in his convoy.
Raya bragged to Marine buddies that he had bought an SKS rifle in Modesto and left it with one of his "boys." It was capable of carrying 30 rounds of high-powered ammunition. When they asked Raya why he needed the weapon, he replied that a 7.62-caliber round could penetrate a cop's armor, Heyne said.
If Raya's fellow Marines had believed his talk of gang involvement were true, they should have reported this to superiors, Marine Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson said.
"But a lot of tough talk goes on between 18- to 19-year-olds," he said.
Several of Raya's friends and family insisted the 2003 graduate of Ceres High School did not belong to a gang, though he may have hung out with gang members.
Heyne suggested it was probable that Raya's parents did not know their son was heavily involved in the Norteño gang.
The teen kept his bedroom clean, Heyne said, and kept most of his gang paraphernalia in a safe. The contents included photos of Raya flashing gang signs and posing next to Norteño graffiti, and book written by a prison inmate and Nuestra Familia gang member known as Sir Dyno.
Raya had "hate" for the United States, Heyne said. During a Dec. 28 burglary at the Ceres High gymnasium, he cut up a U.S. flag, and used the scraps to spell out "F--- Bush" on the gym floor, according to authorities. The burglars videotaped the break-in — during which they stole $5,700 worth of computer equipment and smashed monitors — and left the camera behind, Heyne said.
Later, school officials heard through the grapevine that Raya had visited the school to see about recovering the camera. But police had it. This week, when they looked at the tape, they identified Raya.
Police said they found a CD player in the poncho that Raya wore that night, and said the player held a gangster rap album titled "Season of Da Siccness." The album is dominated by lyrics about killing, Heyne said, in songs such as "Dead Man" and "Return of Da Baby Killa."
Some of Raya's friends downplayed the theory that the music and Sir Dyno book signaled a proclivity to violence.
Everardo Padilla Jr., a 30-year-old warehouse worker who grew up with Raya, said none of Raya's tattoos were gang-related. He had an Aztec sun on one shoulder, an Aztec moon on the other, and this inscription on his neck: "Only God will judge me."
"It doesn't matter what people read, or if they listen to gangster rap. Nobody really knows what went on inside Andy's mind," he said. "But the war had a big influence on whatever he did after he came back. Whether or not he fought, he was talking about things. Basically he saw dead people and civilians blown up."
Padilla denied that Raya had a gang affiliation: "Honestly, in my heart I just know Andy was a lot smarter than that, and his parents did a good job raising him."
Police said their investigation points to a likelihood that others may have helped Raya carry out Sunday's attack.
Police said they are still trying to learn how Raya got from Camp Pendleton to Modesto on Sunday. After partying Saturday night with Marine buddies and returning to the barracks, Raya told them he was going back out.
In conjunction with his return from Iraq, Raya attended a mandatory debriefing with a chaplain and, as with all soldiers, filled out a medical screening form. Raya's answers indicated no physical or psychological ailments, Johnson said. Counseling was available, but Raya did not seek it.
A toxicology report shows that Andres Raya was high on cocaine Sunday night when he shot and killed 39-year-old Sgt. Howard Stevenson and severely injured officer Sam Ryno, 49, outside George's Liquors on Caswell Avenue.
Information presented at a Friday news conference contrasted sharply with the image that police and Raya's family initially portrayed of the young man, that of a traumatized soldier who snapped and committed "suicide by cop."
"The easy answer to this would be to blame it on Iraq," said the lead investigator, Lt. Bill Heyne of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department.
But he said an investigation into Raya's background showed that he harbored violent tendencies and an anti-government attitude long before he went to war.
Raya, a lance corporal who worked as a Humvee driver, did not engage in combat during seven months in Iraq, Heyne said. But Raya saw a fellow Marine suffer a leg injury when a bomb exploded under a vehicle in his convoy.
Raya bragged to Marine buddies that he had bought an SKS rifle in Modesto and left it with one of his "boys." It was capable of carrying 30 rounds of high-powered ammunition. When they asked Raya why he needed the weapon, he replied that a 7.62-caliber round could penetrate a cop's armor, Heyne said.
If Raya's fellow Marines had believed his talk of gang involvement were true, they should have reported this to superiors, Marine Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson said.
"But a lot of tough talk goes on between 18- to 19-year-olds," he said.
Several of Raya's friends and family insisted the 2003 graduate of Ceres High School did not belong to a gang, though he may have hung out with gang members.
Heyne suggested it was probable that Raya's parents did not know their son was heavily involved in the Norteño gang.
The teen kept his bedroom clean, Heyne said, and kept most of his gang paraphernalia in a safe. The contents included photos of Raya flashing gang signs and posing next to Norteño graffiti, and book written by a prison inmate and Nuestra Familia gang member known as Sir Dyno.
Raya had "hate" for the United States, Heyne said. During a Dec. 28 burglary at the Ceres High gymnasium, he cut up a U.S. flag, and used the scraps to spell out "F--- Bush" on the gym floor, according to authorities. The burglars videotaped the break-in — during which they stole $5,700 worth of computer equipment and smashed monitors — and left the camera behind, Heyne said.
Later, school officials heard through the grapevine that Raya had visited the school to see about recovering the camera. But police had it. This week, when they looked at the tape, they identified Raya.
Police said they found a CD player in the poncho that Raya wore that night, and said the player held a gangster rap album titled "Season of Da Siccness." The album is dominated by lyrics about killing, Heyne said, in songs such as "Dead Man" and "Return of Da Baby Killa."
Some of Raya's friends downplayed the theory that the music and Sir Dyno book signaled a proclivity to violence.
Everardo Padilla Jr., a 30-year-old warehouse worker who grew up with Raya, said none of Raya's tattoos were gang-related. He had an Aztec sun on one shoulder, an Aztec moon on the other, and this inscription on his neck: "Only God will judge me."
"It doesn't matter what people read, or if they listen to gangster rap. Nobody really knows what went on inside Andy's mind," he said. "But the war had a big influence on whatever he did after he came back. Whether or not he fought, he was talking about things. Basically he saw dead people and civilians blown up."
Padilla denied that Raya had a gang affiliation: "Honestly, in my heart I just know Andy was a lot smarter than that, and his parents did a good job raising him."
Police said their investigation points to a likelihood that others may have helped Raya carry out Sunday's attack.
Police said they are still trying to learn how Raya got from Camp Pendleton to Modesto on Sunday. After partying Saturday night with Marine buddies and returning to the barracks, Raya told them he was going back out.
In conjunction with his return from Iraq, Raya attended a mandatory debriefing with a chaplain and, as with all soldiers, filled out a medical screening form. Raya's answers indicated no physical or psychological ailments, Johnson said. Counseling was available, but Raya did not seek it.
