During a raid on a private residence last week, officers from the Special Response Team (Spanish initials: SERT) of the Judicial Investigation Office (Spanish initials: OIJ) executed an arrest warrant that took them by surprise as they were greeted by a hail of armor-piercing gunfire.

According to a report filed by Carlos Arguedas of national newspaper La Nacion, the incident took place in the Loma Linda neighborhood of the Rio Blanco district, in the Caribbean province of Limon. OIJ agents sought to arrest a 23-year old man identified by the last names of Gonzalez Cruz, who is a suspect in a homicide case as well as a marijuana smuggling incident. Prosecutors in Limon requested the arrest warrant, and the OIJ chose to deploy a SERT team based on the background of the suspect.

In Costa Rica, SERT teams are part of the OIJ special weapons and tactics (SWAT) program, which is often applied in situations that present a certain level of risk. In this case, the risk was deemed moderate as the suspect is believed to have gunned down a drug trafficking rival with a revolver; for this reason, the SERT officers loaded their weapons with rubber-coated projectiles, which are considered to be less-than-lethal. This is part of a doctrine that has been adopted by law enforcement agencies across Costa Rica in recent decades; the goal is to reduce the likelihood of death, injury and damage during police operations.

As usual, the raid was conducted after dawn, but the officers were surprised by the violent reaction of the suspect, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle modified to fire at the full automatic rate and equipped with armor-piercing rounds. The AR-15 is similar to the M4 carbine carried by the United States Armed Forces. Although the SERT officers wore body armor and carried ballistics shields, they were concerned that the high velocity and alloyed coating of the bullets fired by the suspect could have compromised their safety.

In the end, none of the OIJ agents were impacted, and they were able to take down the suspect with a well-aimed, non-lethal round that struck him in the leg as he was reloading. An internal director of the OIJ commented that the suspect was slightly injured by the rubber bullet, and he was treated enroute to the detention center; the director also praised the efficacy of the SERT team, explaining that they minimized risks and performed a clean operation despite the aggressive behavior of the suspect.