Media Lens: SWAT

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Dispatches from the streets JAN.26.2014

| Vinewood, Los Santos | A police helicopter searches for a suspect while hovering over the intersection of Meteor St and Strawberry Ave in Vinewood. photo by TheGreatZiegfeld

Fresh from the Snapmatic feed, here are images captured by the Media Lens photographers. Police stand-offs, tank rampages, and exploding vehicles were a common sight by the populace of Los Santos and the surrounding communities. Our photographers are out in the field, risking life and limb, to photograph the truth.

| Vinewood, Los Santos | A Member of the Los Santos Police SWAT team takes aim at a rogue tank in an alleyway off of Powers St, just south of Clinton Ave in Vinewood. photo by R_Sparks73

| Mirror Park, Los Santos | A police vehicle detonates with a deafening fireball during an altercation in a residential area adjacent to Mirror Park. photo by Phoenix8994

| Vinewood, Los Santos | A helmeted suspect moments before being spotted by advancing members of the LSPD. The suspect was hiding in the lobby of a building on the northeast corner of Vinewood Blvd and Alta St. photo by R_Sparx73

| Grand Senora Desert | A police helicopter explodes over the Boilingbroke Penitentiary. photo by Phoenix8994

| Rancho, Los Santos | A lone police officer advances down Innocence Blvd. photo by jackson_smart

Media Lens launches blog

| Los Santos, San Andreas |

An epidemic of violence throughout the state began in October of 2013. Rival gang factions, mercenaries, thugs, and psychopaths seemed to be everywhere. Despite an intense and even militant response from the authorities, the violence seems to keep increasing. In late December, an enormous amount of counterfeit currency flooded the black market. The criminal element greatly escalated the violence as a result. When every player in the conflict can fund a small army, sights such as rogue tanks rolling down Morningwood Blvd are not at all surprising.

Into this cauldron of chaos and violence have come the loose collective of combat photographers identified as 'Media Lens.' Throughout the state, these photographers risk life and limb to bring the truth about what is happening in San Andreas to the world. What follows is a selection of images from the initial days of their coverage.