Border Patrol agent fatally shoots man


ESCONDIDO -- A Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man early Thursday who was reportedly trying to grab the agent's gun in a dark field north of Escondido, authorities said.

Sheriff's homicide detective Sgt. Roy Frank said the man, described as Latino and in his 30s, had run from the immigration agent as he was about to arrest him as a suspected illegal immigrant.

He said the incident took place about 12:30 a.m. in a Park and Ride lot at rural Mountain Meadow Road and Champagne Boulevard, just east of Interstate 15.

No weapon was found at the scene other than the agent's gun, Frank said.

"There was a struggle for the agent's firearm," the sergeant said. "The agent was able to pull the firearm away from the suspect, firing at least one round."

The name of the dead man was not made immediately available.

Frank said investigators were not sure that he had given his true identity to the agent when he was first contacted at the lot in the Hidden Meadows area, and they were still trying to identify him.

The shooting happened shortly after 12 people whom authorities believe were illegal immigrants had been taken into custody from a van at the same lot, Frank said. The sergeant said he didn't know yet why the man who was killed had driven into the lot later.

"My understanding is that it is not uncommon for a second (smuggling) vehicle to follow the first one, and pick the aliens up," Frank said.

However, he could not say why the driver was there or whether the timing was a coincidence.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting, and its report will be sent to the FBI, Frank said.

The FBI, the U.S. attorney's office, and investigating agencies would then usually review the report to determine whether any federal laws were violated, said Special Agent Darrell Foxworth, FBI spokesman in San Diego.

Kevin Keenan, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego, said that if the case is submitted to the U.S. attorney's office, the public will never know what happened unless the media gets the information.

"There needs to be some independent oversight of federal law enforcement," Keenan said. "Currently, unlike any other agency we give the power to restrict our liberty and use lethal force, there is no oversight right now of federal law enforcement officers."

The Border Patrol can't comment on the sheriff's shooting investigation until it is completed, said agent Wendi Lee, spokeswoman for the agency in San Diego.

However, each agent carries a collapsible steel baton, pepper spray and a gun, and all agents are trained to handle situations such as the one that occurred early Thursday morning, Lee said.

"Once they fear for their life or the safety of others, (that's) when they're trained to use these weapons," the agent said.

As the investigation continued Thursday morning at the rural scene, Frank said the Border Patrol was helping with interviews and other work.


