U.S. Border patrol agent, private security guard fatally shoot man armed with knife
Calexico CA July 12 2020
A U.S. border agent and a contract secU.S. Bordeurity guard shot a man to death Thursday at the U.S. border crossing between Mexicali and Calexico, triggering a federal investigation, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Pete Flores, director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego, said an individual brandishing a knife approached the agent and the security guard just after 9 a.m. at the international border’s pedestrian crossing.
“As the man approached the CBP officer and the guard with the knife, both drew and fired their weapons, and the man was shot,” Flores said in a written statement.
Customs and Border Protection personnel trained as medical first responders administered medical aid, but the man died at the scene.
Flores said that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating the incident, in coordination with the Mexican Consuls General in San Diego and Calexico, Mexican Tax Administration Service (SAT) and the Mexicali Police Department.
Mexican law enforcement officials in Mexicali were dispatched to the pedestrian crossing after receiving reports of an incident there, they said in a statement in Spanish.
Officers observed a man walking toward the gate, carrying a bag over his shoulder. The man was “supposedly” carrying narcotics, the statement said. It said he fled toward the U.S. side of the gate when he saw Mexican police officers.
The man dropped the bag before crossing the international line and, according to the statement, U.S. customs agents shot him after he crossed into the U.S.
Mexican police said U.S. border agents shot a man to death Thursday at the U.S. border crossing between Mexicali and Calexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have not responded to request for comment on the Mexican authorities’ statement.
The pedestrian northbound crossing at Calexico West was suspended for most of the day, but reopened Thursday evening.
Taxi driver Alejandro Macias works in Mexicali near the pedestrian crossing where the shooting occurred. “I was waiting for rides… when I heard commotion towards the entry (to the U.S.),” Macias said. “I looked and I could see something was happening. I heard five shots.”
Macias said he did not witness anyone being shot but heard another woman describe what she saw.
“A woman told me a guy had pulled out a knife out and was backing away, trying to get back onto the Mexican side, when the officer shot him before he could cross back into Mexico,” Macias said.
