A New Hampshire woman was shot and wounded last month when she reached for her infant granddaughter during a DEA raid, her son said.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant Aug. 27 at the third-floor apartment of Lilian Alonzo as part of an investigation into an oxycodone distribution ring.
Police had confiscated about 1,600 tablets, $58,000 in cash, and an unspecified number of firearms as part of the investigation at other locations in the Manchester area.
Two of Alonzo’s daughters, Johanna Nunez and Jennifer Nunez, were among nine people arrested in those previous raids.
According to an affidavit, Jennifer Nunez told an accomplice June 18 that she stashed her drug proceeds "at mom's," and a confidential informant told police he saw $50,000 in cash at Alonzo's apartment.
Her son told the New Hampshire Union Leader his 10-year-old sister opened the door to Alonzo’s home and federal agents burst into the apartment.
“She went to pick up the baby,” said Daniel Nunez. “They thought she was reaching for something, and they shot her.”
The bullet ripped through her arm and entered her torso, the newspaper reported.
No drugs, weapons, or large amounts of cash were found at Alonzo’s home, Daniel Nunez said.
Three children were present at the time of the shooting in the apartment where Alonzo had lived for about six years – including the 10-year-old girl and a 4-year-old child and 1-year-old baby.
The case had been under investigation for about a year, and Nunez said authorities should have been aware children frequented the apartment.
Two shots were fired when agents barged into the apartment, including one that struck a wall and another that remains inside Alonzo – who needed 30 stitches as a result of her wounds.
The state attorney general is investigating the shooting, which authorities said may have been accidental.
“One of the officers’ weapons discharged,” said Attorney General Joe Foster’s office in a statement, but no other details were offered.
The 49-year-old Alonzo has not been arrested in New Hampshire, according to court records, and her son said she knew nothing about her daughters’ alleged activities.
U.S. Attorney John Kacavas said Alonzo would not likely be charged in the case.
