The U.S. Border Patrol released more information Thursday about the fatal shooting of a man who was allegedly robbing a group of migrants last weekend in the mountains east of San Diego.
On Sunday, Border Patrol agents were conducting operations in the Puebla Tree area of the Otay Mountains, approximately five miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Agents were monitoring the area because of recent reports of armed robberies and assaults targeting groups of migrants crossing into the United States, authorities said.
“A small group of BORTAC agents was concealed approximately 70 yards north of the border along a ravine near the paved road. Additional BORTAC agents, including a precision marksman, were positioned on high ground approximately 275 yards away, providing overwatch of the area.,” the Border Patrol said in a new release Thursday.
According to witness interviews conducted by investigators, a group of migrants was walking on the paved road in the early morning hours when they were approached by four individuals, at least one of whom was armed with a handgun. According to the witnesses, the armed individual demanded money from the group, racked his pistol to chamber a round, and pointed the weapon at one of the migrants. Then the migrants heard a single gunshot and observed the armed individual fall to the ground. The migrants informed investigators they did not know from where the gunshot was fired.
Border Patrol agents said they observed the armed individual threaten the migrants, chamber a round, and point a gun at one of the migrants — at which time the precision marksman fired one round, striking the armed individual.
No other injuries were reported.
A Border Patrol agent EMT and another Border Patrol agent arrived on the scene and performed a medical assessment of the person who was shot. The agents performed life-saving measures including CPR for approximately 45 minutes. Investigators allegedly recovered a handgun near the wounded individual.
The individual was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa who was telephonically consulting with the EMS personnel at the scene.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy of the deceased individual Tuesday, with those results pending. He was subsequently identified as a 32-year-old citizen of Mexico.
Following this encounter, agents apprehended 17 migrants in the area. However, three individuals who were possibly armed absconded from the area and fled into Mexico, authorities said.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and Customs and Border Protection are currently investigating the incident.
–City News Service