by Mindy Aguon, KUAM News Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Subscribe to Mindy's newsfeed   E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

KUAM Video requires Flash 8. download it Here.

On the promise the Guam Police Department would give a grieving family answers as to why they had to shoot Rey Garcia to death, one family member is beyond frustration, sick and tired of hearing the same excuses, but still on a quest for justice. It's been nearly seven months since the tragic scene was recorded by KUAM cameras at the Veteran's Cemetery in Piti where police responded to a report of a man believed to be armed with a gun pacing the cemetery grounds.

With dozens of police, SWAT agents, and even family members on the scene, the 42-year-old Garcia, from Agana Heights, was shot multiple times by officers. "They shot him multiple times and they wanted to make sure that he was dead, as if he was a mass murderer or something," said sister Evelyn during the October story. "He was someone who was grieving."

And since then, that's what family members have been doing - grieving - attempting to move on and to put closure to the horrific incident. But Edward Garcia, who lives in the U.S. mainland, is fed up with the Guam Police, saying officials never made good on promises to keep his family informed. "GPD never answered any of our questions. We always get the same answer from the attorney general it's still under investigation...I think what it is they're trying to prolong the case, where me and my family will forget it ever happened, but I have bad news for them: I will never forget what they did to my brother," he said via phone.

Edward and his family still believe police acted prematurely instead of trying to resolve the situation peacefully. Still, they've gotten no answers.

While the AG's Office has not released the status of their review, KUAM News was able to confirm with Police Chief Paul Suba that GPD has pretty much wrapped up its investigation. "GPD has done its investigative work and have provided that information to both the FBI and the Attorney General's Office. I do believe that the Internal Affairs investigation, as far as any internal or administrative matters, if there were any violations of our protocol, they are finalizing all those reports."

But Edward Garcia isn't buying it, saying, "If he's the chief of police. he can have things done fast. I guess he thinks my brother's a nobody."

He also said, "It's not just any answer. It's the right answer that we're waiting for," said Edward. "You know, they can give us any kind of answer, but the truth is what we want. Because every time a cop shoots somebody in Guam, they always get away with it. It's always justified, but my brother's shooting was not justified."