S.W.A.T. Officer Shot
Daytona Beach, FL
3/16/2006
Daytona Beach News-Journal

A Daytona Beach policeman was shot and wounded shortly after 6 a.m. today while assisting fellow Special Response Team members in serving a search warrant at 1101 18th St., Orange City. The wounded officer, identified as Jeff Cahill, 37, was airlifted to Halifax Medical Center, Daytona Beach, according to Brandon Haught, a spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. At mid-morning, Daytona Beach police said Cahill is in stable condition and expected to fully recover. Cahill was shot in the upper chest area through one of his armor straps.

Authorities have identified the gunman as Gabriel Michael Edwards, 29, the owner of the residence. Cahill was shot as officers broke down Edward's door. No other shots were fired or returned, investigators said. The team was assisting a federal agency in serving the search warrant at the home, where "multiple suspects" were inside, the spokesman said.

The culmination of a 2-year investigation, today's operation included a coordinated execution of search warrants in multiple locations throughout Volusia County, Seminole County, Flagler County and Miami-Dade County. The drug bust, which was carried out this morning by a team of several law enforcement agencies, seized more than eight kilograms of cocaine, more than 200 pounds of marijuana, and several weapons. It also resulted in the arrest of 16 people.


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Officer Injured During Training Exercise
Bridgeport, WV
3/14/2006
Elizabeth Schubert


Officer Dustin Hotsinpiller suffered cuts and bruises after a bullet grazed his arm.
Members from the Clarksburg and Bridgeport police departments were doing some tactical training. The officers practice SWAT team situations: moving together and holding guns close to each other. During the training, a bullet brushed past Bridgeport Officer Dustin Hotsinpiller, grazing him in the arm. He was immediately taken to the hospital.

Bridgeport police Chief Jack Clayton was not available for comment, but 12 News did speak to City Manager, Kim Haws. "It's a just skin wound," Haws said. " There was no major damage done. He's doing well now." Officers say they don't want to say Hotsinpiller was shot, because the bullet never went into his arm. They say the tactical training requires officers to stand so close together, it's possible that when the officer behind Hotsinpiller shot his gun, some of the gases and debris released from the bullet cut his arm.
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SWAT Sniper Kills Hostage Taker
Loudoun County
3/14/2006
WUSA -TV


A Loudoun County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man after a nearly four-hour hostage situation at an Exxon gas station on the Loudoun County Parkway near the Dulles Greenway. The man went into the store about 4:40 p.m. Monday and took a female cashier hostage, the sheriff's office said. His motivation was unclear last night. Police said it doesn't appear to be a domestic situation. Hostage negotiators tried to call inside the store several times, but were disconnected. At one point, the man told police he would kill himself and the hostage, according to a press release.

A little after 8 p.m., the gunman dragged the woman outside with a weapon to her head. It appeared to deputies that the hostage had blood on her shirt and injuries to her neck. A SWAT sharpshooter took fired at the suspect, who appeared to fall back into the Exxon station. The hostage fell to the ground and stayed there until police retrieved her. She suffered minor injuries in the incident and was being treated at an area hospital late Monday.
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Officer Killed in Training with Dummy Round?
Cobb County, Georgia
3/8/2006
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Recruits in a Cobb County police firearms class were worried about an instructor's teaching methods moments before he shot and killed a member of the class, an investigative report released Friday shows. In fact, the report said that recruits in Cobb Sheriff's Deputy Al Jackson's class didn't want to follow his instructions to point weapons at their classmates, and that Jackson physically moved them and their guns to bear on one another.

Jackson shot and killed Tara Drummond, a 23-year-old Kennesaw Police Department recruit, on Sept. 13, at the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy in Austell. The report also says that in 2000, the director of the police academy forbade Jackson in writing from using live weapons in class, and a variety of weapons instructors said Jackson violated the most rudimentary tenet of firearms instruction: Don't point a working gun, loaded or not, at a person.

Cobb police officials on Friday released a summary of their investigation into the fatal shooting. The report became public after a Cobb County grand jury declined Thursday to indict Jackson, 49, on any crime.

The grand jury was asked to consider two misdemeanor charges against Jackson, reckless conduct and involuntary manslaughter, according to documents filed in court.

The police investigation, completed in November, did not recommend charges against Jackson, Cobb Public Safety Director Mickey Lloyd said. The report released Friday said there was no criminal intent by Jackson but was critical of his teaching methods.

"The class and the instructors were armed with functioning weapons, magazines and utility belts," the report said. "Sergeant Jackson instructed the students to point their weapons at each other.

"The students stated they were pointing their weapons at the wall to avoid direct aim at their classmates. ... Students were verbally and physically moved into this face-to-face position by Sergeant Jackson.

"The drill included dropping the magazine in the weapon, reloading with a spare magazine, charging the weapon with a dummy round, pointing the weapon at a fellow student, and pulling the trigger.

"Sergeant Jackson completed the first course of fire and transitioned to his second magazine. The weapon discharged and struck Recruit Tara Drummond in the chest."

Bob Sanderson, assistant director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth County, said Friday the exercise was a significant departure from normal training procedures.

"Even with simulations, you don't line up students across from each other and practice loading and aiming and shooting at someone," Sanderson said. "There are drills you do, where you drop your magazine, aim and fire, but you do it on the firing range. I never heard of anyone conducting their drills that way. That is completely contrary to what I know of."

Sanderson said a fake gun --- a molded solid piece of plastic --- and dummy bullets would normally be used for such classroom exercises.

Dummy rounds are "blanks" designed to simulate the weight and feel of a live round, but without any projectile, Cobb Sheriff's Col. Don Bartlett said.

The synopsis of the police investigation was not clear on how a live round --- the fatal bullet --- came to enter Jackson's 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Police recovered the shell casing and the projectile from the training classroom.

All ammunition is banned from the building, and state policy bans any working firearm --- loaded or not --- from police academy classrooms, officials said.

The state oversees the center in Austell and nine other regional police academies. The Austell academy is operated by Cobb County under a contract with the state.

"The lab also advised that the projectile was ammunition generally used at a live fire range," the report said.

Jackson, a 23-year veteran of the sheriff's office who had taught at the academy for 10 years, "stated that the dummy rounds were stored in a range box which he had left in the classroom. The dummy rounds had been used on a live fire range a few weeks prior to the incident. ... [Jackson] had not checked the dummy rounds after they came off the range or before he inserted them into his weapon."

Sanderson said any ammunition should be checked and rechecked as it passes from different locations.

"Certainly, safety would require that you re-inventory your dummy rounds and containers for your ammunition so you make sure you don't risk mixing live with dummy rounds," Sanderson said.

The report also concluded that "there appeared to be little review by North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy Staff on how Sergeant Jackson taught this class."

Carole Morgan, director of the training center, said Friday instructors were following standard procedures when the shooting occurred.

"Everything that we were doing was consistent with what we should have been doing," Morgan said. "There is no live ammunition in our classes."

Morgan said she had not seem the Cobb police report. She said the academy interviewed all of the staff, but it would not release details about the academy's response to Drummond's death until all the investigations are complete.

The Cobb Sheriff's Office still has an open administrative personnel investigation.

Cobb police released only the investigative synopsis Friday, a four-page document that's part of a larger 2,500-page report on the shooting.

Police declined to release the entire report because personnel details were being redacted.

The summary on Jackson concludes in fairly blunt terms:

"He deviated from the basic fundamentals of firearms safety which resulted in this tragedy."



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SWAT Attacked by Pit Bulls During Drug Raid
HUNTINGTON, W V - 2/25/2006
The Herald-Dispatch


The Huntington SWAT Team killed one pit bull after being attacked by several of the dogs at a home in the 1800 block of Rural Avenue during a drug bust Thursday night. Combs said when officers entered the home, they were attacked by several dogs and forced to kill one of them. Three of the pit bulls were shot and one died, according to the criminal complaint. None of the officers were injured. More than 18 grams of crack and more than $5,000 were recovered from the scene, according to Combs.



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Hostage Situation in TX Ends in Death
Click Here For Discussion:
Dateline: San Antonio,TX - 2/27/2006
WOAI-TV


For the second time in twelve hours, a San Antonio police officer has shot and killed a man. This time it was 43-year-old Nugent Raspberry, a murder suspect who had handcuffed himself to his estranged wife. It was a hostage situation that kept police at bay through the night. The suspect, had holed himself up in an apartment for several hours after shooting his wife's boyfriend.

The standoff unfolded when a neighbor called police after he heard a gunshot and a bullet flew through his wall. Police arrived at the apartment next door. That's when they heard shots fired and a man yelling from inside that he had killed someone. When they tried to open the door, they heard a gunshot. Officers then called the SWAT team.

Police negotiators called Raspberry over the phone, and he explained that he had a dead body inside the apartment. He later dragged the body of Jerome Hunter out to the front porch. He had a gunshot wound to the head. Close to seven hours later the standoff ended. Raspberry came outside handcuffed to his estranged wife with a gun to his head. Police tell WOAI two SWAT team members fired, killing Raspberry. The woman was bruised, but is expected to recover.



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SWAT Standoff at Vegas Harrah's
Las Vegas
2/21/2006
KLAS-TV

Police crashed through a 20th story window and stormed a room at a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino Tuesday, arresting a suspected gunman who authorities say killed another man and shot at police and paramedics. Some SWAT officers entered room 2036 by rappelling down a face of a 29-story Harrah's hotel tower and crashing through a 20th floor window facing away from the famous Strip.


The suspected gunman did not surrender, and it was not immediately clear if he resisted when officers entered his room, police Sgt. Chris Jones said. "The suspect did fire some rounds as tactical units were getting in place," Jones said, adding that there were clear signs of a struggle between the gunman and the man who died in the original shooting about 12:30 a.m. The gunman shot into the hallway at police and paramedics during the initial hectic minutes after the victim was mortally wounded.

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4 Dallas Officers Shot during Warrant
Dallas, TX
2/16/2006
Dallas Morning News

Four experienced Dallas SWAT officers were in good condition Thursday after they were shot with a high-powered rifle while attempting to serve a drug warrant in the Red Bird area. Two men, a woman and a juvenile were taken into custody, police said. They arrived at the home, which is surrounded by a 6-foot iron fence, about 6:50 a.m. in an armored personnel carrier. They announced via loudspeaker that they were going to deliver the arrest and search warrant. As the officers approached the door, shots were fired from inside the house, police said. At that point, an officer crashed the vehicle through the fence, ripping the concrete supports from the ground. He maneuvered the carrier between the downed officers and the house and pulled them to safety. Then a chemical agent was released into the house to flush them out, Lt. Watson said.


WFAA-TV reported that the SWAT operation was part of a larger effort with federal authorities to round up high-profile drug dealers in the region. Lt. Watson said DEA agents were in the van but were not executing the warrants and were not injured. He said he did not know why the police officers were using the technique of announcing themselves. "It is very dangerous not having the element of surprise," he said. "You don't know what's on the other side of the door."

Chief Kunkle said he believed this was the fifth incident since Christmas and the third in about two weeks in which suspects armed with rifles have shot at officers when they approached homes. This operation would be reviewed and critiqued, he said. "We do it different ways depending on circumstances," Kunkle explained. "The officers didn't want any confusion that they were police officers executing a warrant early in the morning, so they announced their presence both in English and Spanish so there would be no confusion."


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Officer Wounded, Suspect Dead in Warrant Service
St. Louis, MO
2/10/2006

A St. Louis police officer is recovering at the hospital, and a suspect is dead after shots are exchanged at a home on Redd Foxx Lane. Police say the wounded officer was conscious and his injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Around 11:30 Thursday night, several officers arrived at a home at the corner of Red Foxx and Spring in St. Louis. A man living at the home was on probation for a federal weapons charge. Police say they had information that the man had guns inside the house. They were attempting to serve a warrant when shots rang out. Police say as officers approached the house, the suspect shot through the door. A bullet wounded one officer in the arm. His body armor stopped a bullet that hit his stomach. Officers returned fire, strking the suspect. He later died.



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Deputy Wounded in Drug Raid
Genesee County, MI - 2/11/2006
Detroit News

A Genesee County sheriff's deputy was shot during a drug raid, but was expected to recover from his wounds, authorities said Friday. Deputy Jeffrey Antcliff, 37, was hit once in the buttocks Thursday night by a .22-caliber bullet, which lodged near his spine, said Undersheriff James Gage. The deputy was taken to a hospital for treatment, Gage said. Antcliff was part of a team of deputies who were executing a search warrant at a suspected drug house, Gage said. The team backed out of the house and surrounded it, and the suspect called 911 to report that he was being attacked.

Dispatchers told him that deputies were there and that he should leave the house with his hands up, which he did, Gage said. The man, the only person in the home at the time, was taken into custody. Authorities believe the 911 call was placed as a cover story, Gage said. Deputies identified themselves before entering the house and three uniformed officers were part of the team, Gage said.

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Hostage Taker w/ baby killed by SWAT
Escondido, California
2/13/2006
KGTV-TV, San Diego

SWAT officers shot and killed a robbery suspect that had his 4-month-old baby strapped to his chest in an Escondido home. The armed robbery suspect was holed up in a North County home Thursday with the baby girl as a hostage. He refused to surrender, authorities reported. The incident began shortly before 1 p.m., when a knife-wielding man robbed a convenience store then fled to the 800 block of Goldenrod Street, where he locked himself in a home, Sgt. Sandi Patten said. Patrol officers soon learned that the suspect had an infant with him, she said.

Authorities were able to contact the man, who spoke with them through the afternoon but refused to come out. A special weapons and tactics team surrounded the house. Officers evacuated nearby homes and closed the street, Patten said.

The man walked out of the house onto the porch, and when he turned to walk back inside, an officer shot him in head, 10News reported. The man was taken to a hospital, while the baby girl was unharmed, said Escondido police Sgt. Geoff Galindo. The suspect, who was believed to be under the influence of a drug, reportedly had rented a room at the house in recent months along with his wife and their baby.

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Vegas Cops Shootout
Las Vegas, Nevada -
2/14/2006

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Las Vegas police shot and killed a gunman inside an apartment Thursday evening, ending a five-hour standoff that began with an intense shootout between officers and the gunman. The gunbattle began about noon when police responded to the Woodridge Villas apartment complex, for a complaint about marijuana smoke, Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said. Police ordered the man to come out. When he didn't, three officers entered and were met with gunfire, Gillespie said.

The officers retreated, but the gunman followed them outside and kept firing, pinning the officers under a stairwell, he said. "He's still firing!" an officer yelled into his radio. "I need some help! Somebody get up here now!" Gunfire could be heard in the background of the police radio transmissions. Dozens of police rushed to the apartment complex. Officers went door to door and sent residents to an armored police vehicle waiting for them in the parking lot. Officers from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and the Clark County School District helped close off roads and surround the apartment complex. Thirteen schools were locked down during the standoff, officials said.


After the initial gunfire stopped, police called in SWAT officers and negotiators who tried to convince the gunman to surrender. He apparently called 911 several times and told police he was armed with an SKS assault rifle and had been shot in the leg and buttocks during the gunfight, according to police scanner traffic. "All units, the suspect is saying he's been shot and he's not going to go to jail and to bring the body bags," a police dispatcher said over the radio. About five minutes later, at about 1:10 p.m., the dispatcher said, "The suspect said that he was injured in the leg. It's pretty bad, and he's refusing medical but still won't come out." Several times during the negotiations, the gunman fired at officers, Gillespie said. No officers or bystanders were shot during the incident. The standoff ended about 5 p.m. when the gunman fired at SWAT officers from a window, Gillespie said. The officers returned fire and killed the gunman, he said.

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K9 Officer Shot, Starts 3 Hour Standoff
Boone, NC - 1/30/2006
WCNC TV


A man opened fire at officers hitting one and holding police at bay for three hours Sunday. The Watauga County Sheriff said one of his deputies responded to a call of disturbance in a neighborhood just east of the Boone city limits. That deputy had just gotten out of his car when the first shots were fired.

According to the sheriff that canine officer, Deputy Wes Hawkins, was responding to a complaint at a mobile home park around 10 p.m. He was grazed by gunfire, the bullets went through his uniform and hit him in the torso and the arm, but he was able to take cover and call for backup. More than 50 law enforcement officials arrived on the scene from a variety of departments ranging from Boone police officers to sheriff's deputies, Blowing Rock police officers, Highway Patrol troopers and even campus police officers from Appalachian State University.

For more than three hours the suspect engaged officers in a standoff and the sheriff said all attempts to communicate with him via bullhorn was met with gunfire.
The man eventually surrendered to police and they took him into custody, no word yet on what his name is or what he will be charged with. Initial reports said the officer's canine was also hit with gunfire, but later when the dog was checked out he was free from injuries and just lying on the ground presumably because he was separated from his handler.


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Officer Killed in Ambush....Furious Gunbattle Follows
Las Vegas, NV - 2/2/2006
Las Vegas Review Journal

Fourteen-year police veteran Sgt. Henry Prendes was shot and killed during a domestic violence call, becoming the first Las Vegas police officer in 17 years to be slain in the line of duty. "I can tell you, for the men and women of the Metropolitan Police Department this is a very sad day," Sheriff Bill Young said. "It's our worst nightmare as an agency."

Police identified the gunman as Amir Rashid Crump, 21, an aspiring Las Vegas rapper who went by the nickname "Trajik." Police had responded to the home at after several 911 calls about a man beating a woman with a stick in the front yard and breaking windows on vehicles and the house. Prendes and several officers arrived and found the woman, who was Crump's girlfriend. Her mother and her brother were with her. Crump had gone inside the home.

Prendes "cautiously approached" the door when he was met with gunfire, Young said. An officer nearby saw Prendes "reeling out of the house, saying, 'I'm hit,' " Young said. Prendes fell on the sidewalk, but other officers could not reach him because Crump continued firing with his gun, which was similar to an AK-47, Young said. Crump fired about 50 rounds and kept the officers pinned behind cars, walls and whatever cover they could find, he said. He went upstairs and fired down upon the officers.

Despite the barrage of gunfire, police officers tried to rescue Prendes. A plainclothes officer with the gang unit was armed with an assault rifle and helped turn the tide. "His weapon probably saved the day," Young said. That officer was shot in the leg during the rescue attempt.

Police shot and killed Crump outside the front door.






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Officer Shot Serving Warrant Saved by Vest
Houston, TX - 1/26/2006
Houston Chronicle
By MIKE GLENN


A southeast Houston man opened fire at an undercover Houston Police narcotics officer late Wednesday when police forced open the front door of a house to serve a search warrant, authorities said. The officer was wearing a protective vest when the bullet struck him in the abdominal area.

"His injuries do not appear to be serious," Houston Police Capt. J.L. Jones said. "He's got a bruise to his lower left abdomen. "The 19-year-old man who fired the .38 caliber revolver at the undercover investigator was not injured, officials said. "The suspect immediately dropped his weapon," Jones said. "The officers were able to take him into custody."

The wounded narcotics investigator, an 11-year HPD veteran, was the first person in the house when police forced open the front door. The man who shot him may have been tipped off seconds before by a home security camera aimed at the front yard, other officers at the scene said. Police said they later recovered narcotics inside the home.

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Deadly Standoff
Portland, Oregon - 12/26/2005
Portland Oregonian

Detective Rae Klein didn't waste a moment trying to strike up a rapport with a 30-year-old armed suicidal man who had threatened to shoot the police from a Northeast Portland triplex on Nov. 4. "Ray, hi. My name's Rae, too," started Klein, a trained hostage negotiator. "I'm with the Police Bureau. What's going on?" Over the next 6 minutes and 50 seconds, the detective told Raymond Gwerder to put his gun down. She assured him police would not storm the house or hurt him. And, not knowing that Gwerder was in the backyard, Klein urged him to stay inside.
Then he let out a loud guttural cry, as if someone socked him in the stomach.
A Portland police sniper had fired a shot from his .308-caliber rifle, striking Gwerder in the back as the man was about to go inside the triplex.

Detective Klein stayed on the line, calling Ray's name at least 10 times. But she got no response. East Precinct Cmdr. Mike Crebs, who was in charge of police operations that day, told investigators later, "The shot just came outta nowhere. . . I thought we were talking to the guy."

Portland police on Wednesday released a tape of Klein's brief conversation with Gwerder, as well as at least 1,000 pages of police reports and transcripts of detectives' interviews with police involved in the shooting. The material revealed a breakdown in communication between members of the hostage negotiation team and members of the bureau's Special Emergency Reaction Team who surrounded the home. A Multnomah County grand jury reviewed the police shooting and found no criminal wrongdoing by sniper. However, several of the grand jurors interviewed last month said there was a glaring lack of overall strategy and wondered whether Gwerder would still be alive if it had been handled differently.


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Funeral Arrangements Set For Texas Officer Killed During Training Exercise

A Mexia School District police officer was shot during a training exercise Tuesday and later died. The Limestone County Sheriff says 31-year-old Sgt. Scott Neal was taking part in a training exercise in Mexia Tuesday afternoon with six other officers when he was accidentally shot in the head by one of the officers. The shooting happened around noon in an abandoned building near the fire department and Mexia City Hall. Sheriff Dennis Wilson said Sergeant Neal was involved in a routine SWAT team training exercise and is unsure why a bullet was in a gun being used in the training session. During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Wilson said the city of Mexia lost a good officer.

Wilson says, "We're very saddened and heartbroken. Scott Neal was an outstanding police officer. He did a great job with our children at Mexia ISD. He was very well thought of in the community and we are going to miss him. This just breaks my heart." Neal had been with the Mexia police force for three years. Grief counselors were sent to the police department.




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SWAT Team Kills 2 in TX Anti-Gang Raid
Houston, TX - 11/5/2005
Houston Chronicle
By MÓNICA GUZMÁN


Two gunmen suspected of being gang members were killed and two others wounded Thursday night after a shootout during an anti-gang police raid on a house in northeast Houston, authorities said. The raid was part of a joint FBI and Houston police "MS-13" initiative designed to curb the well-known gang's criminal activities in the city, said FBI spokesman Al Tribble.

About 11:30 p.m., authorities saw six men approach the single-family house, Tribble said. Five of the men entered the home and began shooting, he added, while the sixth remained outside. "They stormed the house with their guns drawn and fired," Tribble said. FBI agents responded immediately, telling the gunmen to drop their weapons, Tribble said. They did not comply. "When they were confronted, they turned their gunfire on FBI agents," he said.

One of the men was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle, Tribble said. The others had handguns. The agents, members of an FBI SWAT team, fatally shot two of the gunmen and wounded two others. The other two gunmen were taken into custody at the scene with no injuries. No law-enforcement personnel were injured, he said.



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Cop Going for TASER Shoots Man; $900,000 Award
Rochester, Minnesota
10/22/2005
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

A man accidentally shot by a Rochester police officer who thought he was reaching for a stun-gun will receive $900,000 in a settlement reached in U.S. District Court.

On Sept. 2, 2002, two Rochester police officers were responding to a call involving Christofar Atak, a refugee from Sudan, who had been drinking and jumped in front of a police car. Investigators said during a struggle an officer thought he was pulling the trigger of his Taser against Atak's back - but instead of a Taser, it was his .40-caliber Glock handgun.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Ramsey County Attorney's office and an Olmsted County grand jury all determined the shooting was an accident. No criminal charges were filed in the case. One of Atak's lawyers, William French, said the shooting left Atak with a serious injury that he continues to deal with. More surgery will probably be required to remove bullet fragments near his spine.

"We are sorry that he was accidentally shot,'' Police Chief Iverson said. "It was a mistake.''
Peterson said the settlement was a "result of the fact that we hurt someone we didn't intend to hurt.'' Since the mix-up, the Police Department has purchased new stun guns that are much smaller and a different color than their service pistols. The Tasers are also positioned on the other side of the holster from the handgun.

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Bust Yields 11.5 Tons of Cocaine
San Diego, CA
10/23/2005



A San Diego-based U.S. Coast Guard cutter was involved in operations that resulted in the seizure of 11.5 tons of cocaine, officials announced Friday. The seizures happened during four raids south of Mexico, the Coast Guard said. It is believed the drugs were being transported from Columbia.

So far this year, a record 318,000 pounds of cocaine have been seized by the Coast Guard. There have also been busts yielding a total of 11,000 pounds of marijuana. The street value of all the drugs seized so far this year is said to be around $9.6 billion. The Coast Guard plans to send the cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $750 million, to an undisclosed location where it will be destroyed. "Most people think that drugs come through the Caribbean," Leshak said. "But more than 62 percent comes from the eastern Pacific, from places like Ecuador and Columbia."